
Class ^'t^QOO 
Book. . ^(o S__ 
Copight]^" 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



1013. 




COME UNTO ME. 

Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest. — Matt. xi. 28. 



Bible Studies 

FOR 

Every Day in the Year. 

HELPS FOR 

THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

A CLOSKT PROMISK, 

WITH BRIEF MEDITATIONS. 

A CHILDREN'S CORNER 

FOR KVERY WE:KK IN THK YEAR. 



By REV. J. L. SOOY, A. M., 

AUTHOR OF ''BIBLE TALKS WITH CHILDREN." V, i tu J. 

\ , 1 ■ 



2 1892 J) 



Keep the home near heaven. Let it face toward the Father's ho>ne. 

—James Hamilton. 



illustratj3:d with 

axdi ^k iTuU-pagc f alf-®onc ©ngrooings. 

P. VV. ZIEGLER & CO., 
Philadelphia and St. Louis, 






Copyright, 1892, 
iy J. L. SOOY, A. M. 



EXPLANATORY. 



THE following suggestions will explain how " Bible Studies " 
may be used. 

1. The book is divided into fifty-two weeks. The days of 
the week are given, but not the dates of the month. Hence, one 
may begin the use of the book any week of the year. Each 
week opens with a " Pearl Text," together with Golden Thoughts 
from standard authors, which serve as a doorway^ so to speak, to 
the business, the cares and the appointments of that week. 

2. The " Helps for the Devotional Hour," including a care- 
fully selected Scripture lesson with comments and suggestive 
thoughts upon the same, are suitable for family or private devo- 
tion, and are intended to be used in either case. 

3. The " Closet Promise," with meditation, is intended to 
prepare the heart for the duty of prayer. The Rev. C. H. Spur- 
geon has said that he never goes to prayer without selecting some 
promise of God's word as a ground for the petition which he 
wishes to make. " The promises are to the Christian a store- 
house of food." 

4. " The Children's Corner " has been prepared expressly 
for the little folks. It includes — 

(i) A " Breakfast Motto " for each week, which is intended 
to be used at the breakfast table each morning. \i grace be said, 
let the child repeat the motto after ; if no grace ^ either silent or 
oral, be had, let it be repeated as a substitute. 

(5) 



6 EXPLANATORY. 

(2) The " Weekly Proverb " should be memorized. Brande 
says : " Proverbs are, for the most part, rules of moral, or, still 
more properly, of prudential conduct." Bacon says : " The 
genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs." 

(3) The " Daily Bible Readings " have been selected with 
special reference to what will most interest children. There are 
selections for each day of the year, and it is hoped that a daily 
searching of the Scriptures will become a habit. 

(4) The Poetry has been chosen with the special purpose of 
hinting the most practical lessons from most common things and 
doings. 

(5) The Little Talks are intended to be read on Sabbath 
afternoons at the beginning of each week. 

5. As the arrangement of the volume is such that its use 
may begin with anj^ week of the year, the following " Special 
Days " have been inserted at its close : New Year's Day, Good 
Friday, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, together with a 
Special Children's Corner for Christmas week. 

The Author. 



H^l of IIIu5lre.tion5. 

Come unto Me • . 

Annunciation 

Guiding Angel 

The Adoration of the Magi . 

God's Acre .... 

Flight into Egypt 

The Rabbit on the Wall 

A Spring of Life . 

The Young Saviour in the Temple 

The Boyhood of Christ . 

In the Pasture 

Preaching of John 

The Temptation . 

The Sermon on the Mount 

The Negligent Boy 

Parable of the Ten Virgins . 

Parable of the Prodigal Son , 

Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes 

Friends or Foes [Co/ored Plate] . 

Return Home After the First Voyage 

Plate] .... 
The Goat Herd of Grenada 
Lazarus and Dives 
The Lesson of the Passover . 
The Woman of Samaria . 
The Tempest at Sea 
Christ and Nicodemus 
Going to Labor 

Driving Out the Money-Changers 
Suffer Little Children to Come unto Me 



Colored 



PAGE 
2 

17 
23 
38 
48 

53 

63 

78 

87 

90 

103 

no 

116 

133 
140 

145 
154 
167 
188 

201 
225 
236 
262 
271 
275 
293 
299 
306 

313 



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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



30- 
31- 
32- 

33- 
34- 
35- 
36. 
Zl- 
38. 
39- 
40. 
41. 
42. 

43- 
44. 

45- 
46. 

47- 



50. 
5^- 
52- 
53- 
54- 
55- 
56. 
57- 
58. 
59- 
60. 
6r. 
62. 

63- 

64. 

65- 
66. 
67. 
68. 



Raising the Daughter of Jairus 

Where They Crucified Him 

Raising the Widow's Son 

The Sinful Woman 

Christ at the Home of Martha and 

Religious Life \_Colored Plate] 

Waiting \_Colored Plate] 

The Last Supper . 

The First Sunbeam 

Our Pets . 

Gethsemane 

Left in Charge 

The Primrose Gatherers 

The Dead Lion 

Jesus Before Pilate 

Peter Denies Christ 

Watt's First Experiment 

Crowned with Thorns 

Judas and the High Priests 

The Woodland Gate 

The Orphan Boy's Tale . 

On the Road to Calvary 

The Nearest Way Home 

The Crucifixion . 

Carrying to the Tomb . 

The First Voyage 

The Entombment . 

The Reproof 

Christ Appears to Mary 

Returning Home . 

On the Road to Emmaus 

The Brothers 

The Ascension 

The Tambourine . 

Homeless ; or Nobody's Child 

Peter Delivered from Prison 

The Laborer's Noon-day Hymn 

St. Paul and' the Jailer 

The Reaper and the Flowers 



Mary 



FIRST V/EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in, from this time 
forth, and even for evermore. — Psalm cxxi. 8. 



At early davifn as a seeker of grace 
My soul hies away to her trysting place, 
As key to the portal of coming day, 
An hour I'll wait, and watch and pray. 
Fresh trials of grace, in household care. 
Follow close after the hour of prayer; 
But I go forth clad in armor strong. 
In the path of duty, to find ere long 
The things I must do for Jesus to-day. 
There are lessons to learn, crosses to bear. 
Deeds of charity, words of prayer; 
To cheer the strong and pity the weak. 
To sinners of a Saviour's love to speak. 
And this I must do for Jesus to-day. 

—H. R. D. D. 



Do to-day's duty, fight to-day's temptation, 
and do not weaken and distract yourself by 
looking forward to things which you cannot see, 
and could not understand if you saw them. — 
Charles Kingsley. 

Many good purposes lie in the churchyard. — 
Philip Henry. 

Duties are ours, events are God's. This re- 
moves an infinite burden from the shoulders of 
a miserable, tempted, dying creature. On this 
consideration only can he securely lay down his 
head and close his eyes. — Cecil. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

SUNDAY. 

An Anthem of Thanksgiving. — Psalm ciii. 



1 Bless the Lord, O my soul : and all that 
is within me, bless his holy name. 

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not 
all his benefits : 

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who 
healeth all thy diseases; 

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction ; 
who crowneth thee with loving kindness and 
tender mercies ; 

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things ; 
so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. 

6 The Lord executeth righteousness and 
judgment for all that are oppressed. 

7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his 
acts unto the children of Israel. 

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow 
to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 

9 He will not always chide: neither will he 
keep his anger for ever. 

10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; 
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 

1 1 For as the heaven is high above the 
earth, so great is his mercy toward them that 
fear him. 

12 As far as the east is from the west, so far 
hath he removed our transgressions from us. 

In this Psalm we are taught to render thanks. 
first day of the week ! 



13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so 
the Lord pitieth them that fear him. 

14 For he knoweth our frame; he remem- 
bereth that we are dust. 

15 ^^ fo'' ™an, his days are as grass: as a 
flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 

16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is 
gone ; and the place thereof shall know it no 
more. 

17 But the mercy of the Lord is from ever- 
lasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, 
and his righteousness unto children's chil- 
dren ; 

18 To such as keep his covenant, and to 
those that remember his commandments to do 
them. 

19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in 
the heavens ; and his kingdom ruleth over all. 

20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that exce\ 
in strength, that do his commandments, heark- 
ening unto the voice of his word. 

21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye 
ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 

22 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places 
of his dominion : bless the Lord, O my 
soul. 



How well fitted for the 



(9) 



10 



FIRST WEEK. 



" It is observable that no petition occurs throughout the entire compass 
of these twenty-two verses. Not a single word of supplication is in the 
whole Psalm addressed to the Most High." — jfohn Stevenson. 

" It is man's reply to the benedictions of his God, his Song on the Mount 
answering to his Redeemer's Sermon on the Mount." — C. H. Spnrgeon. 

It is related concerning the family life of the Rev. John Angell James, 
that it was his custom to read the 103d Psalm always at prayers on Satur- 
day night. But his wife died ; and the Sabbath drew nigh while she lay 
dead in the house. The members of the stricken household gathered in the 
twilight; some of them wondered whether this old song of the temple, 
fairly ringing and vibrant with thanksgiving, would be given out now while 
the shadows were hanging so deeply overhead. But the faithful servant of 
God simply turned to the familiar place, and said gently : " No reason do I 
see why we should change our custom to-night ; let us read our usual 
Psalm." Whoever casts his eye along the verses will find that there are 
great sweet words there, in the very midst of the praises, for those whom 
"the Lord pitieth." Let others murmur: do thou bless. Let us read our 
diaries, and see if there be not choice favors recorded there for which we 
have rendered no grateful return. 

Closet Promise. — Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, 
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. — John xiv. 13, 

Let our prayers begin, continue, and end in humble dependence on the 
merits of Christ. His name is the very ground on which we kneel ; it is 
the very right of our approach ; it is the very channel through which we 
address God, and by which God can send down blessings upon us. 



Lord, let me talk with thee of all I do, 
AH that I care for, all I wish for, too. 
Lord, let me prove thy sympathy, thy power. 
Thy loving oversight from hour to hour! 
When I need counsel let me ask of thee ; 
Whatever my perplexity may be, 
It cannot he too trivial to bring 
To One who marks the sparrow's drooping 

wing; 
Nor too terrestrial, since thou hast said 
The very hairs are numbered on our head. 
Do money troubles press? Thou canst resolve 
The doubts or dangers such concerns involve. 
Are those I love the cause of anxious care? 
Thou canst unbind the burdens they may bear. 
Before the mysteries of thy word or will 
Thy voice can gently bid my heart be still, 



Since all that is now hard to understand 
Shall be unraveled in yon heavenly land. 
Do weakness, weariness, disease, invade 
This earthly house, which thou thyself hast 

made ? 
Thou only, Lord, canst touch the hidden spring 
Of mischief, and attune the jarring string. 
Would I be taught what thou vvouldst have me 

give. 
The needs of those less favored to relieve? 
Thou canst so guide my hand that I shall be 
A liberal, " cheerful giver," Lord, like thee. 
Of my life's mission do I stand in doubt? 
Thou knowest, and canst clearly point it out. 
Whither I go, do thou thyself decide. 
And choose the friends and servants at my side. 
— London Witness. 



FIRST WEEK. 



11 



MONDAY. 

"Our Infirmities." — Matt. viii. 1-17. 



1 When he was come down from the moun- 
tain, great multitudes followed him. 

2 And, behold, there came a leper and wor- 
shipped him, saying. Lord, if thou wilt, thou 
canst make me clean. 

3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched 
him, saying, I will ; be thou clean. And imme- 
diately his leprosy was cleansed. 

4 And Jesus sailh unlo him. See thou tell no 
man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the 
priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, 
for a testimony unto them. 

5 ^ And when Jesus was entered into Ca- 
pernaum, there came unto him a centurion, 
beseeching him, 

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home 
sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and 
heal hira. 

8 The centurion answered and said. Lord, I 
am not worthy that thou shouldest come under 
my roof: but speak the word only, and my ser- 
vant shall be healed. 

9 For I am a man under authority, having 
soldiers under me : and I say to this man. Go, 
and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he 
cometh ; and to my servant, Do this, and he 
doeth it. 



10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and 
said to them that followed, Verily I say unto 
you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in 
Israel. 

1 1 ,And I say unto you. That many shall 
come from the east and west, and shall sit down 
with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the 
kingdom of heaven : 

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be 
cast out into outer darkness : there shall be 
weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion. Go 
thy way ; and as thou hast believed, so be it 
done unto tiiee. And his servant was healed in 
the selfsame hour. 

14 ^ And when Jesus was come into Peter's 
house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick 
of a fever. 

15 And he touched her hand, and the fever 
left her: end she arose, and ministered unto 
them. 

16 ^ When the even was come, they brought 
unto him many that were possessed with devils : 
and he cast out the spirits with his word, and 
healed all that were sick : 

17 That it might be fulfilled which was 
spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself 
took our infirmities, and bare ou7' sicknesses. 



" How much that word infirmity must have covered then, among the 
multitudes who gathered close about the Master ! how much it covers now 
with us who come to Him for heahng and salvation ! Our dictionaries tell 
us that ' infirmity ' is ' weakness, failing, fault,' and no human philosophy can 
say what just proportion of earth's sin and misery may be fairly counted as 
flowing from that source. We can imagine the weak, fainting, failing ones 
drawing near to our Lord in a half-timid fashion, with none of the boldne.ss 
of those who have positive, definite disease upon them . . . Nevertheless 
they needed Him, O, so sorely! as many a one jieeds Him now who is 

' compassed with infirmity ' ' Himself took our infirmities.' That 

is the way which Isaiah's declaration concerning our Lord is reproduced in 
Matthew's gospel, and it is but another form of stating the precious truth 
which we so love to clasp to our hearts, that ' our High-Priest who is passed 
into the heavens is touched with the feeling of our infirmities' . . . What 
infinite comfort in the knowledge that we can bring all to Christ — sins, 
infirmities, perplexities, anxieties — just as they did of old, and never go 
away unheeded or unhealed ! " — Dorcas Hicks. 



12 



FIRST WEEK. 



Closet Promise. — We have not an high-priest which cannot be touched 
with the feehng of our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted Hke as we 
are, yet without sin. — Heb. iv. 15. 



For Me, a thorny crown 

Men wove, and nails were driven in My hands 

And feet ; there was an earthquake, and I 

died ; 
I died, and am alive for evermore. 
I died for thee : for thee I am alive. 
And My humanity doth mourn for thee; 
For thou art Mine ; and all thy little ones, — 



They, too, are Mine, are Mine. Behold ! the 

house 
Is dark ; but there is brightness where the sons 
Of God are singing, and behold ! the heart 
Is troubled : yet the nations walk in white ; 
They have forgotten how to weep ; and thou 
Shalt also come, and I will foster thee 
And satisfy thy so\x\.— Jean Ingelow. 



TUESDAY. 

God's Care of His People. — Zech. ii. 



8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts : After 
the glory hath he sent me unto the nations 
which spoiled you : for he that toucheth you, 
toucheth the apple of his eye. 

9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon 
them, and they shall be a spoil to their ser- 
vants : and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts 
hath sent me. 

10 1[ Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion : 
for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst 
of thee, saith the Lord. 

11 And many nations shall be joined to the 
Lord in that day, and shall be my people : and 
I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt 
know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto 
thee. 

12 And the Lord shall inherit Judah his por- 
tion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem 
again. 

13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: 
for he is raised up out of his holy habitation. 



1 I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, 
and behold a man with a measuring line in his 
hand. 

2 Then said I, Whither goest thou ? And 
he said unto me. To measure Jerusalem, to see 
what is the breadth thereof, and what is the 
length thereof. 

3 And, behold, the angel that talked with me 
went forth, and another angel went out to meet 
him, 

4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this 
young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited 
as towns without walls for the multitude of men 
and cattle therein : 

5 For I, saith the LoRD, will be unto her a 
wall of fire round about, and will be the glory 
in the midst of her. 

6 ^ Ho, ho, come for^k, and flee from the 
land of the north, saith the LoRD : for I have 
spread you abroad as the four winds of the 
heaven, saith the Lord. 

7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with 
the daughter of Babylon. 

In this chapter we have two precious promises, which are often quoted, 
and which, like all the other promises of our God, are " yea and amen in 
Christ Jesus." 

I. "For I, saith the Lord, will be JiJito her a zvall of fire rojind about, and 
will be the glory in the midst of her " (ver. 5). Is the Church, in this wilder- 
ness-state, exposed to the ravages of the enemy ? Then will God be unto 
her "a wall," and that " of fire,-" which (like travellers in the desert who 
encircle themselves with fire against the attacks of wild beasts by night) 
will keep her secure from all approaches. Nay, more; not protection only, 
an inner circle around her, however near an enemy might press in upon her, 
but destructive to her enemies. Does the Church, in her poor circumstances, 
need comfort within ? Then will God in Christ be " the glory in the midst 
of her." Look up, then, my soul, what hast thou to fear ? What though 



TUESDAY. 



13 



rains beat without, and poverty be felt within ; He that is " the wall of fire " 
can never be extinguished, and He that is " the glory in the midst " will 
still shine upon thee, and fully satisfy all thy need. 

2. ''He that toiichetli yojc toudicth the apple of His eye" (ver. 8). If you 
can conceive how tender you are of your eye, and how careful of the safety 
of your eyesight, you may judge of the care and protection He affords His 
people, how tender He is of their welfare, and how quickly He feels any 
injury done them. 



Closet Promise. — Casting 
you. — I Pet. v. 7. 

If I could only surely know- 
That all these things that tire me so 

Were noticed by my Lord ! 
The pang that cuts me like a knife, 
The noise, the weariness, the strife — 

What peace it would afford ! 



I wonder if He really shares 
In all these little human cares. 

This mighty King of kings ! 
If He who guides through boundless space 
Each blazing planet in its place, 
Can have the condescending grace 

To mind these petty things. 



all your care upon Him ; for He careth for 



It seems to me, if sure of this, 

Blent with each ill would come such bliss 

That I might covet pain, 
And deem whatever brought to me 
The loving thought of Deity, 
And sense of Christ's sweet sympathy, 

Not loss, but richest gain. 



Dear Lord, my heart shall no more doubt 
That Thou dost compass me about 

With sympathy divine ; 
The love for me once crucified 
Is not the love to leave my side. 
But waiteth ever to divide 

Each smallest care of mine. — Selected. 



WEDNESDAY. 

God's Appointed Bulwarks. — Isa. xxvi 



1 In that day shall this song be sung in the 
land of Judah; We have a strong city ; salva- 
tion will C<7;/ appoint /(?;- walls and bulwarks. 

2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation 
which keepeth the truth may enter in. 

3 Thou wilt keep turn in perfect peace, whose 
mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in 
thee. 

4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever : for in the 
Lord JEHOVAH ?> everlasting strength. 

5 \ For he bringeth down them that dwell on 
high ; the lofty city, he layeth it low ; he layeth 
it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even 
to the dust. 

6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet 
of the poor, and the steps of the needy. 

7 The way of the just is uprightness : thou, 
most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. 



8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, 
have we waited for thee ; the desire of our soul 
is to thy name, and to the remembrance of 
thee. 

9 With my soul have I desired thee in the 
night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek 
thee early : for when thy judgments are in the 
earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn 
righteousness. 

10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet 
will he not learn righteousness : in the land of 
uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not 
behold the m,ajesty of the Lord. 

1 1 Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they 
will not see : but they shall see, and be ashamed 
for" their envy at the people ; yea, the fire of 
thine enemies shall devour them. 



" Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." A well-known 
writer says that men reverse this. They appoint walls and bulwarks for 
salvation. But God appoints salvation for bulwarks. 

" Thou wilt keep liiin \\\ perfect peace ^ whose mind is stayed on thee: be- 



14 • FIRST WEEK. 

cause he trusteth in thee." Did you ever think of that, dear Christian, 
beaten and buffeted by Hfe's stormy waves ? The world has not power, 
in all its hurricanes of wrath, to touch the sweet calm of God's reserved 
ground. 

''Because he trusteth in thee" is the source of all. We can only attain 
this great gift of perfect peace by the accepting of God's will in place of our 
own, as being wiser, more beneficent, more renewing, and sure to lead to 
happiness. We are not able to attain it by occasional seeking. It is to 
those who stay themselves on God — who give their souls over entirely to 
Him — who have planted themselves as it were, in God, and abide in Him. 
This perfect peace in the midst of all the turmoils of life is to be the result 
of a steadfast trust in God. 

" What is this peace that keeps you ? It is the inward sense of His favor 
and love, the evidence of your acceptance with Him. It keeps you 
from drift, from temptation, from discontent and fear, from worry and 
spiritual weakness. ' The peace of God shall keep (or garrison) your heart ' " 
(Phil. iv. 7). 

Closet Promise. — As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the 
Lord is round about His people from henceforth even for ever. — Ps. cxxv. 2. 

Dr. Arnold's daily prayer was as follows : " O Lord, I have a busy world 
around me ; eye, ear, and thought will be needed for all my work to be done 
in this busy world. Now, ere I enter on it, I would commit eye and ear 
and thought to Thee. Do Thou bless them, and keep their work Thine, that 
as through Thy natural laws my heart beats and my blood flows without 
any thought of mine, so my spiritual life may hold on its course at these 
times when my mind cannot conspicuously turn to Thee to commit each 
particular thought to Thy service. Hear my prayer, for my dear Redeemer's 
sake. Amen." 

THURSDAY. 
Love the Great Energy in Religion. — Mark xiv. 3-9. 

3 ^ And being in Bethany, in the house of 
Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a 
woman having an alabaster box of ointment of 
spikenard very precious ; and she brake the 
box, and poured it on his head. 

4 And there were some that had indignation 
within themselves, and said. Why was this waste 
of the ointment made ? 

5 For it might have been sold for more than 
three hundred pence, and have been given to 
the poor. And they murmured against her. 

6 And Jesus .said, Let her alone ; why trouble 



ye her? she hath wrought a good work on 
me. 

7 For ye have the poor with you always, and 
whensoever ye will ye may do them good : but 
me ye have not always. 

8 She hath done what she could : she is 
come aforehand to anoint my body to the bury- 
ing. 

9 Verily I say unto you. Wheresoever this 
gospel shall he preached throughout the whole 
world, tliis also that she hath done shall be 
spoken of for a memorial of her. 



Thfe conduct of this woman was the result of overpowering love. May 



THURSDAY. 



15 



not this narrative teach us that God above all things values love to Himself, 
that one outgoing of the soul to Himself is worth hundreds of acts of duty 
apathetically rendered ! 

Jesus Christ deserves to be served after an extraordinary manner. It is 
really wonderful, when we consider what the Saviour has done for us, that 
we are content to be such every day nothings as the most of us are. 

"Ah ! if we did but think of His glory, and of what He deserves — if we 
did but think of His sufferings, and of what He merits at our hands, surely 
we should do something out of the common ; we should break our alabaster 
box, and pour the pound of ointment on His head again." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" I have heard persons say that they seemed to themselves to be doing 
nothing in life. No man and no woman who is faithfully following the Lord 
Jesus Christ can be said to be doing nothing. It is not the eloquent tongue 
that speaks the most. It is not the heroic action which men sound forth 
that is, after all, the most potential in the affairs of men. The symmetrical 
example of holy souls has a voice which sounds out further and reaches 
forth a hand that is felt further than more positive and more declarative in- 
fluences." — a. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — If a man love Me, he will keep My words ; and My 
Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with 
him. — John xiv. 23. 



' If suddenly upon the street 
My gracious Saviour I should meet, 
And He should say : 'As I love thee, 
What love hast thou to offer Me ? ' 
Then what could this poor heart of mine 
Dare offer to that heart divine ? 

' His eye would pierce my outward show ; 
His thought my inmost thought would know ; 
And if I said, ' I love Thee, Lord,' 



He would not heed my spoken word, 
Because my daily life would tell 
If verily I loved Him well. 

" If on the day or in the place 
Wherein He met me face to face 
My life could show some kindness done. 
Some purpose formed, some work begun, 
For His dear sake, then it were meet 
Love's gift to lay at Jesus' feet." 



FRIDAY. 

Three " Shalls."— Phil. iv. 



1 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and 
longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in 
the Lord, my dearly beloved. 

2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, 
that tliey be of the same mind in the Lord. 

3 And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, 
help tliose women which laboured with me in 
the gospel, with Clement also, and with other 
my fellow labourers, whose names are in the 
book of life. 

4 Rejoice in the Lord always : and again I 
say. Rejoice. 

5 Let your moderation be known unto all 
men. The Lord is at hand. 

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing 



by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving' 
let your requests be made known unto God. 

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all 
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds 
through Christ Jesus. 

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are 
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever 
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, 
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things 
are of good report ; if there be any virtue, and 
if there be any praise, think on these things. 

9 Those things, which ye have both learned, 
and received, and heard, and seen in me, do : 
and the God of peace shall be with you. 

10 Bill I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that 



16 



FIRST WEEK. 



now at the last your care of me hath flourished 
again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye 
lacked opportunity. 

11 Not that I speak in respect of want : for I 
have learned, in whatsoever state I am, there- 
with to be content. 

12 I know both how to be abased, and I 
know how to abound : every where and in all 
things I am instructed both to be full and to be 
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 

13 I can do all things through Christ which 
strengtheneth me. 

14 Notwithstanding, ye have well done, that 
ye did communicate with my affliction. 

15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the 
beginning of the gospel, when I departed from 
Macedonia, no church communicated with me 
as concerning giving and receiving, but ye 
only. 



16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once aad 
again unto my necessity. 

17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire 
fruit that may abound to your account. 

18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, 
having received of Epaphroditusthe things w/zzV/i 
'were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, 
a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. 

19 But my God shall supply all your need ac- 
cording to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

20 Now unto God and our Father be glory 
for ever and ever. Amen. 

21 Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The 
brethren which are with me greet you. 

22 All the saints salute you, chiefly they that 
are of Ctesar's household. 

23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
with you all. Amen. 

\ It was written to the Philippians from Rome 
by Epaphroditus. 



This chapter has in it three wonderful slialls. The first is found in verse 
7, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your 
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." It is a certainty. It is not the 
peace of earth that may be broken up so quickly ; it is the peace of God. 

Pass on to another " shall " in verse 9, " The God of peace shall be with 
you." " We have spoken of the peace of God, but here we have the God 
of peace, which is still better. To have a check out of a check-book is good, 
but it is better to have the banker himself. Do we know anything of this 
continual presence of God with us ? Mr. F. Arnot, the African traveller, 
who has been with us for some time, lately told me that he was sustained 
amid all the difficulty, disease, and danger of his long journeys by the con- 
sciousness of the presence of the living God with him. That is what we all 
want." — Rev. C. A. Fox. 

Yet one other " shall " (verse 19) : " But my God shall supply all your 
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." We have had the 
shall of peace, the shall of the presence, and now we have the shall oi supply. 
Will you doubt such an one ? Are you afraid to venture, with him to stand 
by and help you ? Behold, in your path stand the fulness, and mercy, and 
helpfulness of your God! 

Closet Promise. — Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask 

or think, according to the power that worketh in us. — Eph. iii. 20. 

" O, he is a sweet Master ! One smile from Jesus. sustains my soul amid 
all the storms and frowns of this Vv^orld. Pray to know Jesus better. Have 
no other righteousness, no other strength, but only Jesus. O, for fulness 
out of Him ! Why do we not take all out of Jesus ? Keep looking, then, 
to Jesus, dear soul, and you will have that peace of mind that passeth all 






THE ANNUNCIATION. 

Thou shalt call His name Jesus. — Luke i. 31. 

17 



SATURDAY 



19 



understanding. Cleave you to Jesus, be joined to Him by faith, and you 
shall be one spirit ; you shall be made warm and vigorous and full of ac- 
tivity in God's service." — McOieyne. 



SATURDAY. 

Paul in the Storm. — Acts xxvii. 14-44. 



14 But not long after there arose against it a 
tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. 

15 And when the ship was caught, and could 
not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. 

16 And running under a certain island which 
is called Clauda, we had much work to come by 
the boat : 

17 Which when they had taken up, they used 
helps, undergirding the ship ; and, fearing lest 
they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, 
and so were driven. 

18 And \ve being exceedingly tossed with a 
tempest, the next day they lightened the ship ; 

19 And the third day we cast out with our 
own hands the tackling of the ship. 

20 And when neither sun nor stars in many 
days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, 
all hope that we should be saved was then taken 
away. 

21 But after long abstinence, Paul stood forth 
in the midst of them, and said. Sirs, ye should 
have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed 
from Crete, and to have gained this harm and 
loss. 

22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer : 
for there shall be no loss of any mati's life 
among you, but of the ship. 

23 For there stood by me this night the angel 
of God, vi'hose I am, and whom I serve, 

24 Saying, Fear not, Paul ; thou must be 
brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given 
thee all them that sail with thee. 

25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer : for I 
believe God, that it shall be even as it was told 
me. 

26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain 
island. 

27 But when the fourteenth night was come, 
as we' were driven up and down in Adria, 
about midnight the shipmen deemed that they 
drew near to some country ; 

28 And sounded, and found it twenty fath- 
oms : and when they had gone a little further, 
they sounded again, and found // fifteen fath- 
oms. 

29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen 
upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the 
stern, and wished for the day. 

30 And as the shipmen were about to flee 



out of the ship, when they had let down the 
boat into the sea, under colour as though they 
would have cast anchors out of the foreship, 

31 Paul said to the centurion and lo the 
soldiers. Except these abide in the ship, ye can- 
not be saved. 

32 Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the 
boat, and let her fall off. 

2,T, And while the day was coming on, Paul 
besought them all to take meat, saying, This 
day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried 
and continued fasting, having taken nothing. 

34 Wherefore I pray you to take ^nme meat; 
for this is for your health : for there shal-1 not a 
hair fall from the head of any of you. 

35 And when he had thus spoken, he took 
bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of 
them all ; and when he had broken it, he began 
to eat. 

36 Then were they all of good cheer, and 
they also took soi?ie meat. 

37 And we were in all in the ship two hun- 
dred threescore and sixteen souls. 

38 And when they had eaten enough, they 
lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into 
the sea. 

39 And when it was day, they knew not the 
land : but they discovered a certain creek with 
a shore, into the which they were minded, if it 
were possible, to thrust in the ship. 

40 And when they had taken up the anchors, 
they comniiited themselves unto the sea, and 
loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the main- 
sail to the wind, and made toward shore. 

41 And falling into a place where two seas 
met, they ran the ship aground ; and the fore- 
part stuck fast, and remained unmovable, but 
the hinder part was broken with the violence of 
the waves. 

42 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the 
prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and 
escape. 

43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, 
kept them from their purpose ; and commanded 
that they which could swim should cast them- 
selves first ittto the sea, and get to land : 

44 And the rest, some on boards, and some 
on brokeii pieces of the ship. And so it came 
to pass, that they escaped all safe to land. 



We are all of us, like Paul, voyagers. Sometimes the voyage is calm and 
pro.sperous ; sometimes it is stormy and disastrous. To be carried safely in 



20 FIRST WEEK. 

a smooth sea is no sign of the favor of God. To be tossed in a rough tem- 
pest of fear and anxiety is no evidence of His disfavor. 

" Trials and difficulties are disciplinary in their nature and aim. They 
lead to much prayer. They open rich and refreshing discoveries of Divine 
grace. In man's extremity God finds Plis opportunity. Paul sails the 
Adriatic in a storm. He is a prisoner for his Master's sake. In the deepen- 
ing gloom he is cheered by a celestial visitant." — Rev. y. Stevenson. 

" Whose I am and whom I serve." Paul was not his own master. He 
was Christ's. So it is with the true Christian everywhere. In the temple 
or in the field, in worship or in toil, by land or sea, living or dying, in time 
and eternity, it is his joy, with heart and hand to serve the Lord Jesus. In 
a lucid interval of fevered delirium the lamented McCheyne called for paper 
and wrote in substance, that he had planned active and extended work, but 
God had said, " Lie down on this bed and glorify Me." So we are always 
to leave our plans for God's revision, serving Him in the way and place He 
appoints. 

" I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." " Whatever this 
day may bring forth, there can be nothing like this for us. Yet even the 
lesser trials of our own journey may and must be met with the same simple 
and sufficient secret of calm, simple belief in what God has said. It is strange 
and surprising even to ourselves how absolutely enough we always do find 
it, just to believe that it shall be even as God has told us, and ' rest ' on His 
word. The ' it ' may be for us one thing to-day, another to-morrow, accord- 
ing to the circumstances He sends ; but the ' shall be ' cannot be severed 
from it." — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. — 
Psalm XXV. 14. 



Just to let thy Father do 

What He will ; 
Just to know that He is true, 

And he still. 
Just to follow hour b}' hour 

As He leadeth ; 
Just to draw the moment's power 

As it needeth. 
Just to trust Him, that is all ! 

Then the day will surely be 
Peaceful, whatsoe'er befall 

Bright and blessed, calm and free. 



Just to leave in His dear hand 

Little things ; 
All we cannot understand, 

All that stings. 
Just to let Him take the care 

Sorely pressing ; 
Finding all we let Him bear 
Changed to blessing. 
This is ail ! and yet the way 

Marked by Him who loves thee best; 
Secret of a happy day, 

Secret of His promised rest. 

— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



FIRST WEEK. 



21 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his 
benefits. — Ps. ciii. 2. 

Weekly Proverb. — Little strokes fell great oaks. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— WANTED FOR OUR COUNTRY. 

Sunday. — Men like Daniel. — Dan. vi. 1-28. 

Monday. — Men like Shadrach and his Brethren. — Dan. iii. 8-30. 

Tuesday. — Men in Authority like Nehemiah. — Neh. xiii. 15-22. 

Wednesday. — Men in the Ministry like Paul. — I Cor. ii. 1-16. 

Thursday. — Men like the Bereans. — Acts xvii. IO-13. 

Friday. — Young Men like Jabez. — i Chron. iv. 9, lO. 

Saturday. — Young Women like Ruth. — Ruth i. 1-18; ii. II, 12. 

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? 



Come, children, and listen ; I'll tell you in 

rhyme 
AstOQ' of something that happened one time. 

There was war in the land, and each brave heart 

beat high, 
And many went forth for their country to die ; 
But words fail to tell of the fe%f and dismay 
Which swept the small village of W one 

day, 
When the enemy's army marched into the street, 
And their own valiant soldiers were forced to 

retreat. 
Such hiding, surrendering, and trembling with 

fear! 
When what in the midst of it all .should appear 
But grandmother Gregory, feeble and old. 
Coming out from her cottage courageous and 

bold. 
She faced the intruders who marched through 

the land. 



Shaking at them the poker she held in her 

hand. 
" How foolish 1 " her friends cried, provoked, it 

is true ; 
" Why, grandmother, what did you think you 

could do ? " — 
"Not much," answered grandma; "but ere 

they were gone 
I wanted to show them which side I was on." 

Now, children, I've told this queer story to you 
To remind you of something the weakest can do. 
There is always a fight 'twixt the right and the 

wrong, 
And the heat of the battle is borne by the strong ; 
But, no matter how small or unfit for the field. 
Or how feeble or graceless the weapon you 

wield, 
O fail not, until the last enemy's gone, 
To stand up and show all which side you are 

on ! 
— Anna R. Heudeison, in "Our Youth." 



Enter into thy closet. — Matt. vi. 6. 

Dear little friend, I knew a man who had a wonderful canary bird. He 
had no children, and this canary was a great pet with him and his wife. 
When they set the table for the meals, they always put a plate for him ; and 
he would take his place on the edge of his plate. He was taught to say 
" grace." While his master was asking the blessing, he would bend his head 
down very low. Just as soon as the "amen" was said he would be wild 
for his food. During family prayers his ma.ster would open the big Bible; 
then birdie would seat himself on the edge of it while it was being read; 
2 



2'1 FIRST WEEK. 

then his master would put his two hands together in praj^er, and birdie 
would perch himself on them, while the prayer was being offered. As soon 
as all was over, he would have a good time flying around the room. Now, 
don't you think that was a wonderful canary? I hope all the little children 
who read this true story will do as birdie did, and remember to say " grace " 
and to pray. " Enter into thy closet," said Jesus. He meant by the " closet," 
the place of prayer. If you trj', you can always find ^tme to pray. 



THE GUIDING ANGEL. 

In this beautiful picture, which is engraved from the group by L. A. 
Malempre, there is a little child in the dress of a pilgrim. He is walking 
slowly along a narrow path which is bounded by a terrible precipice. Behind 
and above the child is an angel with a countenance of mixed tenderness and' 
anxiety. Her right hand is placed above the little pilgrim's head, as if to 
keep him in the. centre of the path ; her left hand poijnts upward, as if telling 
him to look up and* not down, that he might not perceive the tempting 
snares on either side. The child is walking calmly forward, content not to 
see where he plants each footstep, so long as he feels the gentle and guiding 
touch of the angel upon him. 

This is not a mere fancy of the artist. The Bible, in the 91st Psalm, tells 
us the Lord " shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy 
ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot 
against a stone." When children begin to go, they are very apt to fall and 
get many a knock ; to stumble at every little stone. Now there are many 
stones of stumbling in our way ; but such is the goodness of God, that he 
not only sends his angels to be our guard, but he sends them to be our 
nurses, to carry little children, that they may get no hurt. 



4^ , 


S^S'^^ 




n, 






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____„^^ 


'CUIDI 


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THE GUIDING ANGEL. 
23 



SECOND ^VEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. — Phil. ii. 5. 



Mohammed's truth lay in a holy book, 

Christ's in a sacred life, 
So while the world rolls on from change to 
change, 

And realms of thought expand, 
The Letter stands without expanse or range, 

Stiff as a dead man's hand. 



While, as the life-blood fills the glowing form, 

The Spirit Christ has shed 
Flows through the ripening ages fresh and 
warm, 
More felt than heard or read. 

— Lord Houghton. 



Make Christ your most constant companion. My fellow-student, five 
minutes spent in companionship with Christ every morning — aye, two min- 
utes, if it be face to face and heart to heart — will change your whole day, 
will make every thought and feeling different, will enable you to do things 
for His sake that you would not have done for your own sake or for any 
one's sake. — Selected. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Spiritual Sonship.— Rom. viii. 1-17. 



1 There is therefore now no condemnation to 
them which are in Chri-t Jesus, who walk not 
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin 
and death. 

3 For what the law could not do, in that it 
was weak through the flesh, God sending his 
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for 
sin, condemned sin in the flesh : 

4 That the righteousness of the law might 
be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, 
but after the Spirit. 

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind 
the things of the flesh ; but they that are after 
the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to 
be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against 
God: for it is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can be. 

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot 
please God. 

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, 
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. 



Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, 
he is none of his. 

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead 
because of sin ; but the Spirit is life because of 
righteousness. 

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up 
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised 
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your 
mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not 
to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die : 
but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds 
of the body, ye shall live. 

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of 
God, they are the sons of God. 

^ 15 For ye have not received the spirit of 
bondage again to fear ; but ye have received 
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, 
Father. 

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
spirit, that we are the children of God : 

17 And if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, 
and joint heirs with Christ ; if so be that we 
suffer with hitn, that we may be also glorified 
together. 



"Very beautiful is that word ' A6da ' ]ust here. It is the Syriac and 
Chaldee form for the Hebrew term for father. It is a little up-thrusting of 

(25) 



26 



SECOND WEEK. 



the apostle's mother tongue. Though we be adepts in any other language, 
the speech we use to express overflowing feeling is always that which we 
learned at our mother's knee. And there is such a swell and throb of fili^l- 
ness in the apostle's heart toward the Heavenly Father, that even though he 
must immediately translate it, there is no word to tell his consciousness of 
his close, free sonship but the word that used to be prattle on his lip when 
he was a child." — Wayland Hoyt. 

"It is the calling to, just as a young child lisps to its father in simple, 
childlike confidence."- — Luther. 

"We are '■ heirs of God, and joint hehs zvith Christ,' according to the 
declaration of the apostle. All that there is of beauty, and richness, and 
sweetness, and grandeur, and authority in Christ, is not simply something 
to which we are permitted to look, but it is ours. We have the same right 
in it that a child has in the dignity and elevation of his father. If the 
father comes to honor, and is of universal repute, the child feels stronger, 
and richer, and happier. The father's name is the child's glory, as the 
child's prosperity is the father's joy. All that God has, is mine. All that 
He is, is mine." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, 
having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. — i Tim. ii. 19. 



" Thou knowest. Lord, the weariness and sorrow 
Of the sad heart that comes to Thee for rest; 

Cares of to-day, and burdens for to-morrow, 
Blessings implored, and sins to be confessed : 

I come before Thee at Thy gracious word, 
And lay them at Thy feet ! Thou knowest, 
Lord. 



Thou knowest not alone as God, all-knowing; 
As man, our mortal weakness Thou hast 
proved ; 
On earth with purest sympathies o'er-flowing, 
O Saviour ! Thou hast wept, and Thou hast 
loved. 
And love and sorrow still _to Thee may come, 
And find a hiding-place, a rest, a home." 



MONDAY. 

A Family Hymn. — Psalm cxxviii. 



4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed 
that feareth the Lord. 

5 The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion : 
and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the 
days of thy life. 

6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, 
and peace upon Israel. 



1 Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord ; 
that walketh in his ways. 

2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands : 
happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with 
thee. 

3 Thy wife shall he as a fruitful vine by the 
sides of thine house : thy children like olive 
plants round about thy table. 

This beautiful Psalm is the picture of domestic bliss. " Perhaps in no 
country can it be better understood than in our own, for we above all nations 
delight to sing of Home, Sweet Horne.' " 

The fear of God is the corner-stone of all blessedness. We must reverence 
the ever-blessed God before we can be blessed ourselves. " Whenever you 



MONDAY. 



27 



see the household of a married pair continuing to defy every storm, you 
may be sure that it rests upon a sure foundation, lying beyond the reach of 
human sense, and that foundation is the fear of the Lord" — Augustus F. 
Tholuck. 

"Before the fall Paradise was man's home; since the fall home has been 
his Paradise." — Augustus W. Hare. 

" Yea, thou shalt see thy children's chUdren^ This is a great pleasure. 
Men live their young lives over again in their grandchildren. Does not 
Solomon say that " children's children are the crown of old men ? " So 
they are. 

" Lord, let thy blessing so accompany my endeavors in their breedings, 
that all my sons may be Benaiahs, the Lord's building, and then they will 
all be Abners, their father's light ; and that all my daughters may be Bethias, 
the Lord's daughters, and then they will all be Abigails, their father's joy." 
— George Swinnock. 

Closet Promise. — Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed 
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou 
goest out. — Deut. xxviii. 5, 6. 



' Thou seest whatsoe'er I need, 
Thou seest it, and pitiest me ; 



Thy swift compassions hither speed 
Ere yet piy woes are told to thee." 
— Lyra Germanica. 



TUESDAY. 

The Bread of Life. — John vi. 35- 



35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread 
of life : he that Cometh to me shall never hun- 
ger; and he that belie veth on me shall never 
thirst. 

36 But I said unto you, That ye also have 
seen me, and believe not. 

37 All that the Father giveth me shall come 
to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no 
wise cast out. 

38 For I came down from heaven, not to do 
mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 

39 And this is the Father's will which hath 
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I 
should lose nothing, but should raise it up again 
at the last day, 

40 And this is the will of him that sent me, 
that every one which seeth the Son, and be- 
lieveth on him, mny have everlasting life : and I 
will raise him up at the last day. 

41 The Jews then murmured at him, because 
he said, I am the bread which came down from 
heaven. 

42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son 
of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ? 
how is it then that he saith, I came down from 
heaven ? 



43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto 
them, Murmur not among yourselves. 

44 No man can come to me, except the Fa-- 
ther which hath sent fne draw him : and I will 
raise him up at the last day. 

45 It is written in the prophets. And they 
shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore 
that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, 
Cometh unto me. 

46 Not that any man hath seen the Father^ 
save he which is of God, he hath seen the Fa- 
ther. 

■ 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that be- 
lieveth on me hath everlasting life. 

48 I am that bread of life. 

49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilder- 
ness, and are dead. 

50 This is the bread which cometh down from 
heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not 
die. 

51 I am the living bread which came down 
from heaven : if any man eat of this bread, he 
shall live for ever : and the bread that I will 
give is mv Resh, which I will give for the life 
of the world. 

52 The Jews therefore strove among them- 



28 



SECOND WEEK, 



selves, saying, How can this man give us his 
flesh to eat? 

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, 
I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the 
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no 
lile in you. 

54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my 
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up 
at the last day. 

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood 
is drink indeed. 



56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my 
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 

57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I 
live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even 
he shall live by me. 

58 This is that bread which came down from 
heaven : not as your fathers did eat manna, and 
are dead : he that eateth of this bread shall live 
for ever. 



Christ is that undiminishing loaf of heaven and earth — the " bread of Hfe " 
— the joy, the satisfaction, the strength of all God's people. 

"Jesus, says, 'Come, eat of My bread.' One is utterly ashamed that it 
should ever be an effort to obey this loving invitation. How weak we are ! But 
His hand touches us, and He says, 'Arise, and eat.' May He open our 
eyes to see and rejoice in the provision so close beside us, the feast that He 
has made for us. Not only His word, but the happy doing of His will shall 
be our meat, and we shall ' afterward eat of the holy things, because it is 
His food.' He will give us to eat of the tree of life and of the hidden manna." 
— F. R. Havergal. 

We need daily this living Bread. There at;e fanatics who teach that we 
may get beyond the Blood, the Word, and the Spirit. No wonder that under 
such teaching persons make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. No 
wonder that scandals arise in such circles. Our .safety lies in keeping 
moment by moment " under the blood ; " feeding day by day upon the word 
• — the " bread of life ; " and being ever under the Spirit's guidance. 

Closet Promise. — Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 
righteousness ; for they shall be filled. — Matt. v. 6. 



Let my liungry soul be fed 

On Thee, Lord, of Life the Bread ! 

Let me quench my thirst in Thee, 

Love's immeasurable sea ! 

Let Thy love so constant shine 

In this heart and soul of mine, 



That, completely lost in Thee, 
As a rain- drop in the sea, 
I may feel, and act, and will 
Just as Thou my being fill ! 

— A. Cibbs Canipbell. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Call of Moses.— Ex. iii. i-i 



1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his 
father in law, the priest of Midian : and he led 
the flock to the back side of the desert, and 
came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 

2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto 
him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a 
bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush 
burned with fire, and the l)ush ivas not con- 
sumed. 

3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, 



and see this great sight, why the bush is not 
burnt. 

4 And when the Lord saw that he turned 
aside ko see, God called unto him out of the 
midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. 
And he said, Here am I. 

5 A'hI he said. Draw not nigh hither: put 
off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place 
whereon thou standest is holy ground. 

6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy fa- 



WEDNESDAY. 



29 



ther, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 
and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his 
face ; for he was afraid to look upon God. 

7 ^ And the Lord sai<^ I have surely seen 
the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, 
and have heard their cry by reason of their task- 
masters; for I know their sorrows; 

8 And I am come down to deliver them out 
of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring 
them up out of that land unto a good land and 
a large, unto a land flowing with milk and 
honey ; unto the place of the Canaanites, and 
the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Periz- 
zites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 

9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the chil- 
dren of Israel is come unto me : and I have also 
seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians 
oppress them. 

10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee 
unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my 
people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 

11 H And Moses said unto God, Who am I, 
that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I 
should bring forth the children of Israel out of 
Egypt? 

12 And he said. Certainly I will be with 
thee; and this shall he a token unto thee, that I 
have sent thee : When thou hast brought forth 
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God 
upon this mountain. 

13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, what 
I come unto the children of Israel, and shall 



say unto them, The God of your fathers hath 
sent me unto you ; and they shall say to me, 
What is his name? what shall I say unto them ? 

14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT 
I AM: and he said, Thus shall tliou say unto 
the children of Israel, I AM hatli sent me unto 
you. 

15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus 
shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The 
LoRi:) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, 
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath 
sent me unto you : this is my name for ever, and 
this is my memorial unto all generations. 

16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel to- 
gether, and say unto them, The EoRD God of 
your fatliers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, 
and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have 
surely visited you, and seen that which is done 
to you in Egypt : 

17 And I have said, I will bring you up out 
of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the 
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, 
and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the 
Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and 
honey. 

18 And they shall hearken to thy voice : and 
thou shall come, thou and the elders of Israel, 
unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto 
him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met 
with us : and now let us go, we beseech thee, 
three days' journey into the wilderness, that we 
may sacrifice to the Lord our God. 



He who, forty years before, was so eager to become the dehverer of the 
children of Israel that he ran without being sent, is now strangely reluctant 
to undertake the work. Moses had learned his own insufficiency. 

Let us learn not to be impatient for the discovery of our true life-work. 
Moses was eighty years old before he entered upon that noble career by 
which he became the emancipator and educator of his nation. Two-thirds 
of his days were gone before he reallj' touched that which was his great, dis- 
tinctive, and peculiar labor, and his enterprise was all the more gloriously 
accomplished by reason of the delay. 

" So let no one chafe and fret over the delay which seems evermore to 
keep him from doing anything to purpose for the world and his Lord. The 
opportunity will come in its own season. It does come, sooner or later, to 
every man ; and it is well if, when at length he hears the voice calling, 
' Moses ! Moses ! ' he is ready with the answer, ' Here am I.' For while I 
would comfort you with the assurance that the hour will come, I do not 
mean that you should be idle until it strikes. No ; for if you adopt such a 
plan, the certainty is that you will not hear its stroke, or that you will not 
be ready to begin at its call. The true principle is to do with your might 
that which is lying at your hand day by day, in the firm conviction that you 



30 



SECOND WEEK 



are thereby training yourself into fitness for your future vocation. Moses 
was as observant as a shepherd as he had been dih'gent as a student; and 
when at length his higher work opened up before him, he saw how it lifted 
up into itself and utilized all the knowledge which he had acquired in his 
lower pursuits. . . . Prepare yourself for wielding your sceptre when it comes, 
by doing with all fidelity the duties of your present sphere." — W. M. Taylor, 
D.D. 



Closet Promise. — And" God is able to make all grace abound toward 
you ; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to 
every good work. — 2 Cor. ix. 8. 



• God's reiterated 'All ! ' 

O wondrous word of peace and power ! 
Touching with its tuneful fall, 
The rising of each hidden hour, 
All the day. 



He shall all your need supply, 

And He will make all grace abound ; 
Always all sufficiency 

In Him for <?// things shall be found. 
For to-day." 

—F. R. Havergal. 



THURSDAY. 

Moses's Plea. — Ex. iv. 10-18. 



10 ^ And Moses said unto the Lord, O my 
Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, 
nor since thnu hast spoken unto thy servant; 
but I am slow of speech, and of a slow 
tongue. 

11 And the Lord said unto him. Who hath 
made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, 
or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind ? have not I 
the Lord? 

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy 
mouth, and teach thee what thou shall say. 

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray 
thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt 
send. 

14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled 
against Moses, and he said. Is not Aaron the 
Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak 
well And also, behold, he cometh forth to 



meet thee : and when he seeth thee, he will be 
glad in his heart. 

15 And thou shall speak unto him, and put 
words in his mouth : and I will be with thy 
mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you 
what ye shall do. 

16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the 
people : and he shall be, even he shall be to Ihee 
instead of a mouth, and thou shall be to him 
instead of God. 

1 7 And thou shall lake this rod in thine hand, 
wherewith thou shall do signs. 

18 ^ And Moses went and returned to Jethro 
his fpther in law, and said unto him. Let me 
go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren 
which are in Egypt, and see wliether they be 
yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in 
peace. 



Moses offers four distinct excuses for declining the work to which the 
Lord called him. 

The first was his own personal umvorthiness ; and that was removed by 
God's assurance, "Certainly I will be with thee" (Ex. iii. II, 12). The 
second excuse was his inability to a7isiver the Israelites if they should 
ask him, " Who sent you ? What is his name ? " And that was met 
by these far-reaching words, " I am that I am : Thus shalt thou say unto 
the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you" (Ex. iii. 13-15). The 
third excuse was that the people zvoiild not believe liim, but would say that 



THURSDAY. 



31 



the Lord had not appeared unto him ; and God took that stumbhng-block 
out of his way by showing him two miracles which he was to perform in 
Egypt (Ex. iv. 1-9). Driven thus from all the outworks which he had so 
skilfully thrown up, Moses falls back on his first difficulty — his own 
incompetency (Ex. iii. 10-17). The Lord met this plea by reminding him 
that he was not sending him in his own strength. * 

Moses was sufficiently equipped. A rod constituted his visible means. 
God made it sufficient. And so when we engage in anything which has for 
its end the glory of Christ and the welfare of humanity, we may rely on 
His co-operation. Do we need anything more ? 

Closet Promise. — He giveth power to the faint ; and to them that have 
no might he increaseth strength. — Isa. xl. 29. 



' Oh ! wonderful Thou art ! 

Too wonderful for me is such great love, 
Shining in such a heart 

Like sunbeams from above. 
How rich am I ! yea, all things I possess — 



Peace, joy, life, strength, and perfect righteous- 
ness. 
Jehovah shows Himself, and gives to me 
All my desire. Look, trembling soul ! and see 
On what a treasury thy want may call — 
' I AM thine all in all.' " 



FRIDAY. 

The Lowliness of Jesus. — John xiii. 1-17. 



1 Now before the feast of the passover, when 
Jesus knew that his hour was come that he 
should depart out of this world unto the Father, 
having loved his own which were in the world, 
he loved them unto the end. 

2 And supper being ended, the devil having 
now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's 
so/:, to betray him ; 

3 Jesu> knowing that the Father had given 
all things into liis hands, and that he was come 
from God, and went to God ; 

4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his 
garments ; and took a towel, and girded him- 
self. 

5 After that he poureth water into a basin, 
and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to 
wipe //ler/i with the towel wherewith he was 
girded. 

6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and 
Peter saith unto him. Lord, dost thou wash my 
feet? 

7 Jesus answered and said unto him. What I 
do thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt know 
hereafter. 

8 Peter saith unto him. Thou shalt never wash 



my feet. Jesus answered him. If I wash thee 
not, thou hast no part with me. 

9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my 
feet only, but also my hands and my head. 

10 Jesus saith to him, He that is waslied 
needeth not save to wash /n's feet, but is clean 
every whit : and ye are clean, but not all. 

11 For he knew who should betray him; 
therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. 

12 So after he had washed their feet, and had 
taken his garments, and was set down again, he 
said unto them, Know ye what I have done to 
you ? 

13 Ye call me Master and Lord : and ye say 
well ; for so I am. 

14 If I then, yotn- Lord and Master, have 
washed your feet ; ye also ought to wash one 
another's feet. 

15 For I have given you an example, that ye 
should do as I have done to you. 

16 Verily, verily, I say unto you. The ser- 
vant is not greater than his lord; neither he 
that is sent greater than he that sent him. 

17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if 
ye do them. 



This scene took place at the last supper of the Lord. Jesus and His 
apostles had taken, for the last time, the familiar walk from Bethany to 
Jerusalem, and had entered the upper chamber for their final gathering on 



32 



SECOND WEEK. 



earth. They had walked along the hot and dusty road over the shoulder 
of Olivet; on entering the chamber they had indeed taken off their sandals 
and left them at the door; but still the dust of their journey was on their 
unsandaled feet. To have their feet bathed before the meal was cooling and 
refreshing ; but in their little mutual jealousies, no one had offered to perform 
the menial ofifice. And, therefore, Jesus rose in perfect silence, stripped off 
His upper garment, took a towel, girded it round his waist, poured water into 
a basin, and began to wash His disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the 
towel wherewith He was girded. Was there ever a more lovely, a more 
engaging instance shown, than by the great Redeemer of the world, in this 
condescending act ? 

O thou blessed Emmanuel ! thou, the Lord our righteousness ! never let 
me forget this instance of thy grace to poor sinners, but do thou cause it to 
be my daily encouragement to come to thee, and under the same conviction 
as the apostle, to cry out, " Lord, wash not my feet only, but also my hands 
and my head." 

Closet Promise. — He giveth grace unto the lowly. — Prov. iii. 34. 

Mrs. Susanna Wesley, writing of the services which she was holding in 
the rectory-house on Sunday evenings in behalf of the poor of Epworth, 
says: " But I never durst positively presume to hope that God would make 
use of me as an instrument of doing good; the farthest I ever durst go was, 
' It may be ; who can tell ? With God all things are possible. X will resign 
myself to Him ; ' " or as George Herbert better expresses it, 



' Only, since God doth often mfake 
Of lovviy matter, for high uses meet, 
I throw me at His feet ; 
There will I lie until my Maker seek 



For some mean stuff whereon to show His 

skill ; 
Then is my time." 



SATURDAY. 

The Pearl of Psalms. — Psalm xxiii. 



1 The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not 
want. 

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pas- 
tures : he leadeth me beside the still waters. 

3 He restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in 
the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of 
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for 



thou ar/ with me ; thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me. 

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the 
presence of mine enemies ; thou anointest my 
head with oil ; my cup runneth over. 

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 
all the days of my life : and I will dwell in the 
house of the Lord for ever. 



"Augustine is said to have beheld, in a dream, the one hundred and nine- 
teenth Psalm rising before him as a tree of life in the midst of the paradise 
of God. This twenty-third may be compared to the fairest flowers that 



SATURDAY. 



33 



grew around it. The former has even been hkened to the sun amidst the 
stars — surely this is the richest of the constellations, even the Pleiades them- 
selves ! " — John Stoiighton. 

" The twenty-third Psalm is the nightingale of the Psalms. It is small, of 
a homely feather, singing shyly out of obscurity, but, oh! it has filled the 
air of the whole world with melodious joy, greater than the heart can 
conceive. Blessed be the day on which chat Psalm was born ! What would 
you say of a pilgrim commissioned of God to travel up and down the earth 
singing a strange melody, which, when one heard, caused him to forget 
whatever sorrow he had ? And so the singing angel goes on his way 
through all lands, singing in the language of every nation, driving away 
trouble by the pulses of the air which his tongue moves with divine power. 
Behold just such an one ! This pilgrim God has sent to speak in every lan- 
guage on the globe." — Henry Ward Beechcr. 

" Some pious souls are troubled because they cannot at all times, or often, 
use, in its joyous import, the language of this Psalm. Such should remem- 
ber that David, though he lived long, never wrote but one twenty-third Psalm. 
Some of his odes do indeed express as lively a faith as this, and faith can 
walk in darkness. But where else do we find a whole Psalm expressive of 
personal confidence, joy, and triumph, from beginning to end ? God's 
people have their seasons of darkness and their times of rejoicing." — William 
S. Plummer. 

Closet Promise. — I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, 
which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. — Isa. xlviii. 17. 



" He leadeth me ! " 
And so I need not seek my own wild way 

Across the desert wild ; 
He knoweth where the soft, green pastures lie, 

Where the still waters glide. 
And how to reach the coolness of their rest, 

Beneath the calm hillside. 

" He leadeth me ! " 
And though it be by rugged, weary ways, 

Where thorns spring sharp and sore. 
No pathway can seem strange or desolate 



When* Jesus " goes before." 

His gentle shepherding my solace is 

And gladness yet in store. 

" He leadeth me ! " 
I shall not take one needless step through all, 

In wind, or heat, or cold ; 
And all day long he sees the peaceful end, 

Through trials manifold. 
Up the fair hillside, like some sweet surprise, 

Waiteth the quiet fold. — Selected. 



34 SECOND WEEK. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Give us this day our daily bread. — Matt. vi. ii. 
Weekly Proverb. — The morning hour has gold in its mouth. — Poor 
Richm^d. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— WANTED FOR OUR COUNTRY. 

Sunday. — Matrons like the pious Shunamite. — 2 Kings iv. 8-13. 
Monday. — Brethren like Aaron and Hur. — Ex. xvii. 8-16. 
Tuesday. — Sisters like Mary and Martha. — Luke x. 38-42. 
Wednesday. — Heads of Families like Caleb and Joshua. — Num. xiv. 24; 
Josh. xxiv. 14-18. 

Thursday. — Wives like the Model One. — Prov. xxxi. 10-31. 
Friday. — Fathers like Abraham. — Gen. xxii. 1-19. 
Sahirday. — Mothers like Hannah. — i Sam. i. 9-18; 24-28. 

THE BEST BEAUTY. 

Whose face is fair to see, I know a little fellow 

And everybody's glad 
To hear the cheery whistle 
Of the pleasant little lad. 

You see it's not the features 

That others judge us by, 
But what we do, I tell you, 

And that you can't deny. 
The plainest face has beauty 

If the owner's kind and true ; 
And that's the kind of beauty, 

My girl and boy, for you. — Golden Days, 



But still there's nothing pleasant 

About that face to me ; 
For he's rude and cross and selfish 

If he cannot have his way ; 
And he's always making trouble, 

I've heard his mother say. 

I know a little fellow 

Whose face is plain to see. 

But that we never think of — 
So kind and brave is he. 

He carries sunshine with him, 



Thou God Seest Me. — Gen. xvi. 13. 
I once read of a father who w^anted his son to carry a parcel to a certain 
place on Sunday, and being told to carry it in his pocket where it could not 
be seen, the little fellow replied: "God can see in my pocket!' "Johnnie," 
said a man, winking slyly to a boy who was tending his father's store, " you 
must give me good measure : your master is not in." Johnnie looked 
solemnly into the man's face and replied : " My Master is always in." John- 
nie's Master was the all-seeing God. Let every one of my little friends, 
when tempted, adopt his motto: "My Master is always in." It will save 
370U from falling into many sins. " Thou God seest me; "don't forget that. 
Do you know about Lafayette, that great man who was the friend of Wash- 
ington? He tells us that he was once shut up in a little room in a gloomy 
prison for a great while. In the door of his cell was a very small hole cut, 
through which a soldier watched him day and night. All he could see was 
the soldier's eye ; but that eye was always there. So, no matter where you 
are, God's eye sees you. If you sin, how dreadful is that eye ; if you are 
good, how blessed ! 



THIRD ^A^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of 
cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his 
reward. — Matt. x. 42. 



Wouldst thou from sorrow find a sweet relief, 

Or is thy heart oppress'd with woe untold? 

Balm wouldst thou gather for corroding grief? 



Pour blessings round thee, like a shower of 
gold. — Carlos Wilcox. 



" In eternity it will amount to more to have given a cup of cold water with 
right motives, to an humble servant of God, than to have been flattered by 
a whole generation." — Dr. Cumining. 

" Live for something. Do good and leave behind you a monument of vir- 
tue that the storm of time can never destroy. Write j^our name in kindness, 
love and mercy on the hearts of thousands you come in contact with year 
by year; you will never be forgotten. No, your name, your deeds, will be 
as legible on the hearts you leave behind as the stars on the brow of even- 
ing. Good deeds will shine as the stars of heaven." — Chalmers. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

SUNDAY. 

Longing for Fellowship with God. — Psalm Ixxxiv. 



1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord 
of hosts ! 

2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the 
courts of the Lord : my heart and my flesh 
crieth out for the living CJod. 

3 Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and 
the swallow a nest for herself, where she may 
lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, 
my King, and my God. 

4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house : 
they will be still praising ihee. Selah. 

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in 
thee ; in whose heart are tlie ways of them. 

6 Who passing through the valley of Baca 
make it a well ; the rain also filleth the pools. 



7 They go from strength to strength, every 
one of them \j\. Zion appeareth before God. 

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer : 
give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. 

9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon 
the face of thine anointed. 

10 For a day in thy courts is better than a 
thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the 
house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of 
wickedness. 

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield : 
the Lord will give grace and glory : no good 
thing will he withhold from them that walk up- 
rightly. 

12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that 
trusteth in thee. 



" This sacred ode is one of the choicest of the collection ; it has a mild 
radiance about it, entii:ling it to be called The Pearl of Psalms. If the 
twenty-third be the most popular, the one-hundred-and-third the most joy- 
ful, the one-hundred-and-nineteenth the most deeply experimental, the fifty- 
first the most plaintive, this is one of the most sweet of the Psalms of Peace." 
— C. H. Sp2irgco)i. 

(35) 



36 



THIRD WEEK. 



" Some need to be whipped to church, while here is David crying for it. 
He needed no clatter of bells from a belfry to ring him in, he carried his 
bell in his own bosom ; holy appetite is a better call to worship than a full 
chime." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

"Another sign of God's children is, delight to be much in God's presence. 
.... In the use of ordinances we draw near to God, we come into our 
Father's presence ; in prayer we have secret conference with God ; the soul 
while it is praying is as it were parleying with God. In the word we hear 
God speaking from heaven to us ; and how doth every child of God delight 
to hear his Father's voice ! In the sacrament God kisseth His children with 
the kisses of His lips ; he gives them a smile of His face, and a privy-seal of 
His love ; oh, it is good to draw near to God. It is sweet being in His pres- 
ence ; every true child of God saith, 'A day in Thy courts is better than a 
thousand \ " — TJiomas Watson. 

"I had rather be. a doorkeeper" etc. "Some read it, ' I would rather be 
fixed to a post in the house of my God, than live at liberty in the tents of 
the wicked ; " alluding to the law concerning servants, who, if they would 
not go out free, were to have their ear bored to the door-post, Exod. xxi. 5, 
6. David loved his Master, and loved his work so well, that he desired to 
be tied to this service forever, to be more free to it, but never to go out 
free from it, preferring bonds to duty far before the greatest liberty to sin. 
Such a superlative delight have holy hearts in holy duties ; no satisfaction 
in their account comparable to that in communion with God." — Matthew 
Henry. 

Closet Promise. — Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall 
strengthen thy heart. — Psalm xxvii. 14. 



After the darkness, lo, the light 
Shall all the past repair; 

The perfect bliss, the spotless sight, 
It is not here but there. 

So sHU I sing in every state, 



Always, where'er I be ; 
Be still my heart, be still and wait — 
He loveth thee. 

— The Rev. E. Paxton Hood. 



MONDAY. 

Self-Denial. — Matt. xvi. 21-28. 



21 ^ From that time forth began Jesus to 
shew unto his disciples, how that he must go 
unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the 
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be 
killed, and be raised again the third day. 

22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke 
him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord : this shall 
not be unto thee. 

23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get 
thee behind me, Satan : tliou art an offence unlo 



me : for thou savourest not the things that be of 
God, but those that be of men. 

24 ^ Then said Jesus unto his disciples. If 
any man will come after me, let him deny him- 
self, and take up his cross, and follow me. 

25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose 
it : and whosoever will lose his life for my sake 
shall find it. 

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall 
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? 




THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 

And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Hi: 
gold, and franl<incense, and myrrh. — Matt. ii. II. 
38 



gifts : 



MONDAY. 



39 



or what shall a man give in exchange for his 
soul? 

27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory 
of his Father with his angels ; and then he shall 
reward every man according to his works. 



28 Verily I say unto you, Tlieif he some 
standing here, whicli shall not laste ol death, till 
they see the Son of man coming in his king- 
dom. 



Cliristianity can never be made popular. It always calls for self-denial 
and self-sacrifice. 

" Carnal fancy imagineth a path strewed with lilies and roses ; we are too 
tender-footed to think of briars and thorns." — T. Maiiton, D. D. 

Self-denial not partial. "As Saul slew some of the cattle, but spared the 
fat, and Agag. Many can deny theinselves in many things, but they are 
loath to give up all to God, without bounds and reservations." — 7". Manton, 
D.D. 

Our self-denials lie -just where our duties do. We are so far humble, as 
we deny ourselves in the matter of pride; so far heavenly-minded, as we 
deny our earthly inclinations ; so far charitable, as we deny our tempers of 
self-love and envy ; so far temperate and pure, as we restrain our lower 
passions and lusts. 

" Self-denial is only one meaning of religion. If I should say of a garden, 

* It is a place fenced in,' what idea would you have of its clusters of roses, 
and pyramids of honeysuckles, and beds of odorous flowers, and rows of 
blossoming shrubs and fruit-bearing trees ? If I should say of a cathedral, 

* It is built of stone, cold stone,' what idea would you have of its wondrous 
carvings, and its gorgeous openings for door and window, and its evanescing 
spire ? Now, if you regard religion merely as self-denial, you stop at the 
fence, and see nothing of the beauty of the garden ; you think only of the 
stone, and not of the marvellous beauty into which it is fashioned."—^//! W. 
BeecJier. 



Closet Promise. — In all thy ways acknowledge Him. and He shall 
direct thy path. — Prov. iii. 6. 

" There is no uncertainty as to ivhat path the Lord has undertaken to 
direct ; for he has written, 'All thy paths.' Not only in the dark way, when 
we are perplexed ; not only when the heart is in heaviness through manifold 
temptations ; but also when we tarry in the pleasant shade of Elim's palm- 
trees, as well as by Marah's bitter waters — yea, all our ways he jvill direct 
and guide as every day's need requires." — Anna SJiipton. 



40 



THIRD WEEK. 



TUESDAY. 

Enoch's Piety.— Gen. v. 18-24; Heb. xi. 5, 6. 



18 ^ And Jared lived a hundred sixty and 
two years, and he begat Enoch : 

19 And Jared lived afier he begat Enoch 
eight hundred years, and begat sons and daugh- 
ters : 

20 And all the days of Jared were nine hun- 
dred sixty and two years: and he died. 

21 ^And Enoch lived sixty and five years, 
and begat Methuselah : 

22 And Enoch walked with God after he be- 
gat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat 
sons and daughters : 



23 And all the days of Enoch were three 
hundred sixty and five years : 

24 And Enoch walked with God: and he 
was not; for God took him. 

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should 
not see death ; and was not found, because God 
had translated him : for before his translation he 
had this testimony, that he pleased God. 

6 But without faith ii is impossible to please 
him : for he that cometh to God must believe 
that he is, and that'he is a rewarder of them that 
diligently seek him. 



"Walked with God." Of course the meaning is, that he was a good man, 
that lie hved reh'giously. True religion is, walking " with God." And 
when it is said that Enoch walked with God, it is meant that he attained to 
special religious excellence. His religion did not merely come into contact 
with his secular life ; his spiritual humanity did not merely touch his social 
humanity; but, like the prophet upon the dead child, "stretched itself upon 
it," mouth on mouth, eyes on eyes, hands on hands, and made it live. His 
religion was life, an active life. He " walked" with God. 

And that too in the very midst of domestic anxiety and care. One of the 
two men who have had the honors of translation in this world for " pleasing 
God " was a man who lived in the midst of society, and was surrounded with 
children ; he was not a recluse or a celibate. He lived in that condition in 
which there are natural and necessary distractions and temptations. Many 
people have lost their religion through the increase of domestic cares. But 
a godly soul can walk with God in family life, and take all its offspring in 
the same holy path. 

"He was not, for God took him." Paul says of Enoch, he did not " see 
death." Christ says of every disciple that " he does not taste death." There 
is no translation now for the righteous, but there is better : tt'ansfori nation, 
the being " changed from glory to glory now," and " the bearing of the 
image of the heavenly" hereafter. 

Closet Promise. — He preserveth the souls of His saints. — Psalm 



" If to know that God approves of 3'ou, that all day long God is with you, 
and you with God, that His loving and mighty arms are under you, that He 
has promised to keep you in all your ways, to prosper all you do, and reward 
you forever, if this be not happiness, my friends, what is?" — Charles Kiiigsley. 



THIRD WEEK. 



41 



WEDNESDAY. 

Bi.E Arithmetic. — 2 Pet. i. 5-21 



5 And besides this, giving al) diligence, add 
to your faith virtue ; and to virtue, l<no\vledge ; 

6 And to knowledge, temperance ; and to 
temperance, patience ; and to patience, godli- 
ness ; 

7 And to godliness, brotherly kindness ; and 
to brotherly kindness, charity. 

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, 
they make you that ye shall neither be barren 
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, 
and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that 
he was purged from his old sins. 

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give dili- 
gence to make your calling and election sure : 
for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto 
you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put 
you always in remembrance of these things, 
though ye know them, and be established in the 
present truth. 

13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in 
this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in 
remembrance ; 



14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this 
my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ 
hath shewed me. 

15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be 
able after my decease to have these things al- 
ways in remembrance. 

16 For we have not followed cunningly de- 
vised fables, when we made known unto you 
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 

17 For he received from God the Father 
honour and glory, when there came such a voice 
to him from the excellent glory, This is my be- 
loved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 

18 And this voice which came from heaven 
we heard, when we were with him in the holy 
mount. 

19 We have also a more sure word of proph- 
ecy ; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, 
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until 
the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your 
hearts : 

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of 
the Scripture is of any private interpretation. 

21 For the prophecy came not in old time by 
the will of man : but holy men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 



How faith evolves a whole gailand of virtues (vers. 5-7). To the faith 
which has saved you, add the seven following fruits of faith : virtue, that is, 
courage to profess your faith, to stand alone, and to declare unwelcome 
truths^ knowledge, that is, intelligent appreciation of God's will and your 
duty ; temperance, that is, self-coiitrol of all appetites and passions ; patient 
endurance amid undeserved sufferings ; godlikeness — the doing in your 
limited degree what He would do perfectly; brotherly kindness, that is, a 
pure, Divine, generous affection for all believers ; to this, a far-reaching charity 
toward even your enemies. 

" Thus charity, that binds me to all men, completes what faith, that binds 
me to God, began." — Rev. John Parker. 

" The golden chain of virtue is man's most becoming ornament; let no 
one sever its links; who wants one, shall have them all." — Starke. 

"The finest specimen of a Christian is he in whom all the graces, like the 
strings of an angel's harp, are in the most perfect harmony." — Thomas 
Guthrie. 



Closet Promise.— Godliness with contentment 
vi. 6. 



great gain. — i Tim. 



42 THIRD WESK. 



Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers? 

O sweet Content ! 
Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplexed ? 

O Punishment ! 
Dost laugh to see how fools are vexed 
To add to golden numbers golden numbers? 
O sweet Content ! O sweet, O sweet Content ! 



Can'st drink the waters of the crispSd spring ? 

O sweet Content ! 
Swim'st thou in wealth, yet sink'st in thine own 
tears ? 

O Punishment ! 
Then he thai patiently want's burden bears 
No burden bears, but is a king, a king. 
O sweet Content ! O sweet, O sweet Content ! 
Thomas Dekker. 



THURSDAY. 

Recipe for Holy Laughter. — Psalm cxxvi. 



4 Turn again our captivity, O LoRD, as the 
streams in the south. 

5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 

6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing 
precious seed, shall doubtless come again with 
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 



1 When the Lord turned again the captivity 
of Zion, we were like them that dream. 

2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, 
and our tongue with singing : then said they 
among the heathen, The Lord hath done great 
things for them. 

3 The Lord hath done great things for us ; 
whereof yft are glad. 

The word " turn " would seem to be the key-note of this song ; it is a 
psalm of conversion — conversion from captivity ; and " It may well be used 
to set forth the rapture of a pardoned soul when the anger of the Lord is 
turned away from it." 

" Note the wheti and the then. God's zvheji is our then. At the moment 
when He turns our captivity, the heart turns from its sorrow; when He fills 
us with grace, we are filled with gratitude. We were made to be as them 
that dream, but we both laughed and sang in our sleep. We are wide awake 
now, and although we can scarcely realize the blessing, yet we rejoice in it 
exceedingly." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

''They that sow in tears shall reap in Joy." It is somewhat singular to find 
this promise of fruitfulness in close contact with return from captivity; and 
yet it is so in our own experience, for when our own soul is revived the 
souls of others are blessed by our labors. 

" This sentence may well pass current in the church as an inspired prov- 
erb. It is not every sowing which is thus insured against all danger, and 
guaranteed a harvest ; but the promise specially belongs to sowing in tears. 
When a man's heart is so stirred that he weeps over the sins of others, he 
is elect to usefulness. Winners of souls are first weepers for souls. As there 
is no birth without travail, so is there no spiritual harvest without painful 
tillage. When our own hearts are broken with grief at man's transgression 
we shall break other men's hearts ; tears of earnestness beget tears of re- 
pentance ; ' deep calleth unto deep.' " — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the 
time that their corn and their wine increased. — Psalm iv. 7. 



THURSDAY. 



43 



" Carry a pleasant or, at least, a placid countenance around with you. 
There is nothing gained by going up and down the streets with a sour, 
wrinkled, clouded visage. You appear to be aggravating your own misery ; 
possibly you are making yourself miserable without real cause. Here is a 
dead loss of both reputation and character as regards yourself. Then, in 
your relation to others, you are impairing your chances and your ability to 
be helpful and agreeable. Whoever thinks these matters unworthy of con- 
sideration has a very distorted view of life and duty." 



FRIDAY, 

Who is my Neighbour?" — Luke x. 25-42. 



25 ^ And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, 
and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I 
do to inherit eternal life ? 

26 He said unto him. What is written in the 
law? how readest thou? 

27 And he answering said. Thou shall love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with 
all thy rnind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered 
right; this do, and thou shalt live. 

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto 
Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man 
went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell 
among thieves, which stripped him of his rai- 
ment, and wounded hivi, and departed, leaving 
him half dead. 

31 And by chance there came down a certain 
priest that way ; and when he saw him, he 
passed by on the other side. 

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at 
the place, came and looked on him, and passed 
by on the other side. 

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, 
came where he was ; and when he saw him, he 
had compassion on him, 

34 And went to him, and bound up his 
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on 



his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and 
took care of him. 

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he 
took out two pence, and gave them to the host, 
and said unto him. Take care of him : and what- 
soever thou spendest more, when I come again, 
I will repay thee. 

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, 
was neighbour unto him that fell among the 
thieves? 

37 And he said. He that shewed mercy on 
hmi_. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do 
thou likewise. 

38 \ Now it came to pass, as they went, that 
he entered into a certain village : and a certain 
woman named Martha received him into her 
house. 

39 And she had a sister called Mary, which 
also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 

40 But Martha was cumbered about much 
serving, and came to him, and said. Lord, dost 
thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve 
alone ? bid her therefore that she help me. 

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, 
Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled 
about many things : 

42 But one thing is needful; and Mary hath 
chosen that good part, which shall not be taken 
away from her. 



Our Lord, in this parable, teaches us, that all are our neighbors. The 
wounded man was a Jew, and the man who helped him was a Samaritan ; in 
this lies the special lesson. 

As disciples of Christ, we are to be kind not only to those near, but to 
those far off; not only to kinsmen and friends, but to strangers ; not to those 
only who love us, or will be grateful to us, but even to enemies. 

" There are some who are naturally winning and attractive ; it is easy to 
show kindness to them ; but we must be kind also to those who are not so. 
Some, we know, will receive our kindness gratefully and repay it with love; 
it is a pleasure to show kindness to such ; but we must not confine our help 



44 



THIRD WEEK. 



to them. Some again are opposed to us in opinions and habits, yet let us 
help them in their need. And some may have injured us, yet we must seek 
to do them good. In all these instances the example of the Samaritan 
applies, ' Go, and do thou likewise.' " — F. Boiirdillon. 

We must not overlook the visit of Jesus to the house of Mary and Martha 
mentioned in the closing verses of to-day's reading. "Martha, thou art 
careful and troubled about many things." 

" More than half that we suffer through fear of troubles is that which we 

are made to suffer by magnifying them We take our troubles, and 

turn them over, and look at them ; we imagine what form they will assume; 
we make an inventory of them ; we muster them, and call the roll, and put 
them in order, and march them first this way and then that; we annoy our- 
selves with them as much as possible. Men are infernally ingenious in tor- 
menting themselves with troubles which ninety-nine times in a hundred have 
no existence except in their imagination." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily 
I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto Me. — Matt. xxv. 40. 



Life's morning lies behind ; its noon is past ; 
Its evening comes apace ; and we at last, 
Weary and footsore, by thie way sit down 
And think, in sorrow, of our lost renown. 
Sadly we grieve Ihat in our life hath been 
No grand and noble deeds — but all unseen 
Our lowly toil. Then some sweet voice chants 

low, 
Wait till God's angel shall the record show. 



The patient toil ; the suffering meekly borne ; 
The kind word spoken to the sinking heart, 
The cup of water in His name, to one 
Fainting and desolate ; the cruel smart 
We seek in other suffering hearts to ease 
By earnest deeds of love ; oh, faint heart — these, 
These are the deeds He counts as labor done. 
And binds into the sheaf our toil hath won. 
— Rebecca Ruter Springer. 



SATURDAY. 

The Chiefest Among Ten Thousand." — Sol. Song ■ 



I I am come into my garden, my sister, my 
spouse : I have gathered my myrrh with my 
spice ; I have eaten my honeycomb with my 
honey ; I have drunk my wine with my milk : 
eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O 
beloved. 

2^1 sleep, but my heart waketh : it is the 
voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying. Open 
to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my unde- 
fded : for my head is filled with dew, and my 
locks with the drops of the night. 

3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it 
on? I have washed my feet; how shall I de- 
file them ? 

4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of 
the door, and my bowels were moved for him. 

5 I rose up to open to my beloved ; and my 
hands dropped ivith myrrh, and my fingers with 



sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the 
lock. 

6 I opened to my beloved ; but my beloved 
had withdrawn himself, andvizs gone : my soul 
failed when he spake : I sought him, but I could 
not find him ; I called him, but he gave me no 
answer. 

7 The watchmen that went about the city 
found me, they smote me, they wounded me ; 
the keepers of the walls took away my vail from 
me. 

8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if 
ye find my lieloved, that ye tell him, that I am 
sick of love. 

9 ^ What is thy beloved more than another 
beloved, O thou fairest among women ? what is 
thy beloved more than another beloved, that 
thou dost so charije us ? 



SATURDAY. 



45 



10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chief- 
est among ten thousand. 

11 His head is as the most fine gold; his 
locks aie bushy, and black as a raven : 

12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the 
rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set : 

13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet 
flowers : his lips like lilies, dropping sweet 
smelling myrrh : 



14 His hands are as gold rings set with the 
beryl : his belly is as bright ivory overlaid 7ui//i 
sapphires : 

15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon 
sockets of fine gold : his countenance is as Leb- 
anon, excellent as the cedars : 

16 His mouth is most sweet : yea, he is alto- 
gether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is 
my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. 



In each quality which makes the dearest names in human h'fe, Christ so 
excels that He is infinitely above all others. We are not accustomed to 
weave into His name all those sweet, familiar attributes which we see in the 
household, or which we meet in a circle of friends ; and yet, in respect to 
every one of those qualities which go to make names that are dear to the 
heart, the Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely above them, infinitely superior to 

them in every thing His name is above every name. He is more 

fatherly than fathers, and more motherly than mothers. He is more tender 
in love than any lover. Language is exhausted in the Bible to signify the 
inflections of divine tenderness." — H. IV. Beedicr. 

'■'This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem" 
(ver. 16). 

" This is the Church's confession concerning her love for Christ. See the 
Saviour's response (Psa. xlv. 1-17 ; John xv. 15). As such, no longer a ser- 
vant's place, for wages, or a servant's limitations, but the familiarity and 
counsels of a friend. His will, unknown to others, is made known to you. 
'Abraham was the friend of God ' (James ii. 23) — appeared to him, conversed 
with him, revealed secrets to him." — Rev. John Parker. 

Closet Promise. — My Beloved is mine, and I am His. — Sol. Song ii. 16. 



Thine I am ! give me love's secret token ; 

Blood has sealed Thee, Thou art mine ; 
Let the echo in my heart be spoken ; 

Mark me with the inward sign ! 



With thee all things doing, all things daring, 
Living, dying, all the future sharing ; 

This my inmost spirit saith ; 

Covenant in life and death. 

— /. E. Rankin, D. D. 



46 THIRD WEEK. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. — 
Psalm xxiii. i. 

Weekly Proverb. — Blame-all and Praise-all are two block-heads. — 
Poor Richard. 

•D^YWi BIBLE READING.— THE SABBATH. 

Sunday. — Must be remembered. — Ex. xx. 8-1 1. 

Monday. — Must be Employed in Divine Worship. — Isa. Ixvi. 23 ; Acts 
xx. 7. 

Tuesday. — Must be Held in Delight. — Isa. Iviii. 13, 14; Psa. cxviii. 24. 

Wednesday. — Not to be Disturbed by Noise and Tumult. — Hab. ii. 20 ; 
Psa. Ixv. I- 1 3. 

Thursday. — Not to be Profaned by Traffic for Gain. — Neh. xiii. 15-22; 
John ii. 13-17. 

Friday. — May be Employed in Works of Necessity. — Mark ii. 23-28. 

Saturday. — Also in Works of Mercy. — Matt. xii. 10-13; Luke xiii. 10-17. 

THE LITTLE ARMY. 



There's a funny little army, 

Clad in armor silver-bright; 
Though it stands in warlike columns, 

Yet 'tis never known to fight. 
Very sharp these little soldiers, 

Always useful, night or day ; 
People think it quite an honor 

To be called as neat as they. 



Often missed when they are needed. 

Though they don't march to and fro, 
It has ever been a puzzle 

To determine where they go ; 
Only pins upon a cushion, 

Yet be very proud we might 
Were we, like this little army, 

Always useful, neat, and bright. 

— Good Times. 



Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. — Ex. xx. 7. 

I hope no little friend who reads this Talk ever curses or swears. Boys 
think it sounds manly to be profane; but, what a dreadful thing it is! 
Surely, if people would only remember God hears them, they would never 
swear. A coachtiian, pointing to one of his horses, said to a traveller, " That 
horse, sir, knows when I swear at him." — " Yes," replied the traveller ; " and 
so does your Maker." I want to tell you good John Howard's opinion of 
swearers. As he was one day standing near the door of a printing-office, 
he heard some dreadful oaths and curses from several men coming down 
the street. He immediately buttoned up his pocket, and said to those who 
stood near him, " I always do this, whenever I hear men swear ; for I think 
that any one who can take God's name in vain can also steal, or do any- 
thing else that is bad," Like Howard I am afraid to trust the man or boy 



^IHjK 






1 ' ^f- x^^^fe2£)/ ^^ 


4 


^'%. 


r-^'?---^- 







GOD'S ACRE. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 49 

that swears. I wish every boy in our land would commit to memory these 
lines of Cowper : 

" It chills my blood to hear the blest Supreme I Maintain your rank ; vulgarity despise ; 
Lightly appealed to on each trifling theme ; [ To swear is neither brave, polite, nor wise." 



GOD'S-ACRE. 

I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls 
The burial-ground God's-Acre ! It is just; 

It consecrates each grave within its walls, 
And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust. 

God's-Acre ! Yes, that blessed name imparts 
Comfort to those, who in the grave have sown 

The seed that they had garnered in their hearts, 
Their bread of life, alas ! no more their own. 

Into its furrows shall we all be cast. 

In the sure faith, that we shall rise again 

At the great harvest, when the archangel's blast 
Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain. 

Then shall the good stand in immortal bloom, 
In the fair gardens of thai second birth ; 

And each bright blossom mingle its perfume 
With that of flowers which never bloomed on 
earth. •' 

With thy rijde ploughshare. Death, turn up the 
sod. 
And spread the furrow for the seed we sow ; 
This is the field and Acre of our God, 

This is the place where human harvests grow ! 
—H. W. Longfellow. 



FOURTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. 

cxix. 105. 



■Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a liglit unto my path. — Psalm 



When quiet in my house I sit, 

Thy book be my companion still; 

My joy tliy sayings to repeat, 

Talk o'er the records of thy will. 



And search t!ie oracles divine, 
Till every heart-felt word be mine. 

— Charles Wesley. 



Do you know a book that you are willing to put under your head when 
you are dying ? Very well ; that is the Book you need to study while 
you are living. There is but one such book in the world. — Joseph Cook. 

If asked what is the remedy for the deeper sorrows of the human heart 
— wh^t a man should chiefly look to in his progress through life, as the 
power that is to sustain him under trials and enable him manfully to con- 
front his afflictions, I must point him to something which, in a well-known 
hymn, is called " The old, old story," told of in an old, old Book, and 
taught with an old, old teaching, which is the greatest and best gift ever 
given to mankind. — Gladstone. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

SUNDAY. 

Needful Lessons. — Luke xvii. 1-19. 



1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is im- 
possible but that offences will come : but woe 
unto him, through whom they come ! 

2 It were better for him that a millstone were 
hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, 
than that he should offend one of these little 
ones. 

3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother 
trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he 
repent, forgive him. 

4 And if he trespass against thee seven times 
in a day, and seven times in a day turn again 
to thee, saying, I repent ; thou shalt forgive 
him. 

5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, In- 
crease our faith. 

6 And the Lord said. If ye had faith as a 
grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this 
sycamine tree. Be thou plucked up by the root, 
and be thou planted in the sea ; and it should 
obey you. 

7 But which of you, having a servant plough- 
ing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and 
by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit 
down to meat? 

8 And will not rather say unto him, Make 

(50) 



ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, 
and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken ; 
and afterward thou shalt eat and drink ? 

9 Doth he thank that servant because he did 
the things that were commanded him ? I trow 
not. 

10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done 
all those things which are commanded you, say. 
We are unprofitable servants : we have done 
that which was our duty to do. 

n Tl And it came to pass, as he went to 
Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of 
Samaria and Galilee. 

12 And as he entered into a certain village, 
there met him ten men that were lepers, which 
stood afar off : 

13 And they lifted up //;^/r voices, and said, 
Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 

14 And when he saw them, he said unto 
them. Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And 
it came to pass, that, as they went, they were 
cleansed. 

15 And one of them, when he saw that he 
was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice 
glorified God, 



51 



16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giv- 
ing him thanks : and he wa? a Samaritan. 

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not 
ten cleansed ? but where are the nine ? 



18 There are not found that returned to give 
glory to God, save this stranger. 

19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way : 
thy faith hath made thee whole. 



1. Forbearance (vers. 1-4). " He that cannot forgive others breaks down 
the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every one has need to be 
forgiven." 

2. Faith (vers. 5,6). The heart's desire of the apostles was not, " Lord, 
keep our faith alive : Lord, sustain it as it is at present," but " Increase our 
faith." For they knew that it is only by increase that the Christian keeps 
alive at all. Napoleon once said, " I must fight battles, and I must win 
them; conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me. 
And it is so with the Christian. It is not yesterday's battle thatwill save 
me to-day; I must be going onwards." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

3. Hiunility (vers. 7-10). The Christian's day is not merely one of twelve 
hours. All his time is his Lord's; he can never have a " day off " And 
then he is not to stroke himself down complacently after he has met the 
demand upon him, as if he had done something extraordinary. Pride after 
toil is just as much out of place as murmuring under toil. 

4. Gratitude (vers. 1 1-19). Ingratitude ! — there is a fault we all of us 
easily recognize and heartily condemn. And even in a matter where it 
would seem almost incredible, even in a matter such as that brought before 
us by the miracle of the ten lepers ; even in the matter of recovered 
health, there is strange room for ingratitude. Who can believe it, even of 
himself? 

"Health more than sickness a reason for gratitiide. Ungrateful to God? 
I fear so ; and more ungrateful, I fear, than those ten lepers. For which of 
the two is better off, the man who loses a good thing, and then gets it back 
again, or the man who never loses it at all, but enjoys it all his life ? Surely 
the man who never loses it at all." — C. Kingsley. 

Closet Promise. — Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle ? who shall 
dwell in Thy holy hill ? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteous- 
ness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his 
tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his 
neighbor. — Psalm xv. 1-3. 



If we knew the cares and crosses 

Crowding round our neighbor's way, 
If we knew the little losses. 

Sorely grievous, day by day, 
Would we then so often chide him 

For his lack of thrift and gain, 
Leaving on his heart a shadow. 

Leaving on our life a stain ? 



If we knew the clouds above us 

Held but gentle blessings there, 
Would we turn away all trembling 

In our blind and weak despair ? 
Would we shrink from little shadows 

Lying on the dewy grass, 
While 'tis only birds of Eden 

Just in mercy flying past? 



52 



FOURTH WEE] 



If we knew the silent story, 

Quivering through the heart of pain, 
Would our manhood dare to doom them 

Back to haunts of guilt again ? 
Life had made a tangled 0ossing, 

Joy hath many a break of woe, 
And the cheeks, tear-stained and whitest, 

This the blessed angels know. 



Let us reach into our bosoms 

For the key to"other lives, 
And with love toward erring nature, 

Cherish good that still survives. 
So that, when our disrobed spirits 

Soar to realms of light again, 
We may say, " Dear Father, judge us 

As we judge our fellow-men." 

— Our Own Fireside. 



MONDAY. 

Praise ye the Lord. — Psalm cxlviii. 



9 Mountains, and all hills ; fruitful trees, and 
all cedars : 

10 Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, 
and ilying fowl : 

1 1 Kings of the earth, and all people ; princes, 
and all judges of the earth : 

12 Both young men, and maidens; old men, 
and children : 

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord: 
for his name alone is excellent; his glory is 
above the earth and heaven. 

14 He also exalteth the horn of his people, 
the praise of all his saints ; even of the children 
of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye 
the Lord. 



1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord 
from the heavens : praise him in the heights. 

2 Praise ye him, all his angels : praise ye 
him, all his hosts. 

3 Praise ye him, sun and moon : praise him, 
all ye stars of light. 

4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye 
waters that be above the heavens. 

5 Let them praise the name of the LoRD : 
for he commanded, and they were created. 

6 He hath also stablished them for ever and 
ever: he hath made a decree which shall not 
pass. 

7 Praise the LoRD from the earth, ye dragons, 
and all deeps : 

8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy 
wind fulfilling his word : 

In this splendid anthem the Psalmist calls upon the whole creation to 
praise Jehovah: things with and things without life, beings rational and 
irrational, are summoned to join the mighty chorus. " Milton, in his 
' Paradise Lost' (Book V., line 153, etc.), has elegantly imitated this psalin, 
and put it into the mouth of Adam and Eve as their morning hymn in a 
state of innocency." — yames Anderson. 

" This psalm is neither more nor less than a glorious prophecy of that 
coming day, when not only shall the knowledge of the Lord be spread over 
the whole earth, as the waters cover the sea, but from every created object 
in heaven and in earth, animate and inanimate, from the highest archangel, 
through every grade and phase of being, down to the tiniest atom — young 
men and maidens, old men and children, and all kings and princes, and 
judges of the earth shall unite in this millennial anthem to the Redeemer's 
praise." — Barton Bouchicr. 

" See how the Psalmist trumpets out the word ' Praise.' It sounds 
forth some nine times in the first five verses of this song. Like minute- 
guns, exultant exhortations are sounded forth in tremendous force — Praise ! 
Praise ! Praise ! The drum of the great King beats round the world with 
this one note — Praise ! Praise ! Praise !" — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Dr. Charles Hodge says : "As far back as I can remember, I had the 




FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 

When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed 

into Egypt. — Matt. ii. 14. 

53 



MONDAY. 55 

habit of thanking God for everything I received, and of asking Him for 
everything I wanted. If I lost a book or any one of my phiythings, I 
prayed that I might find it. I prayed walking along the streets, in school 
and out of school, whether playing or studying. I did not do this in 
obedience to any prescribed rule — it seemed natural. I thought of God as 
an everywhere present Being, full of kindness and love, who would not be 
offended if children talked to Him." 

Closet Promise. — Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O Lord, 
according to Thy word. — Psalm cxix. 65. 



I praise Thee while my days go on ; 
I love Thee while my days go on : 
Through dark and dearth, through fire and 
frost. 



With emptied arms and treasure lost, 
I thank Thee while my days go on. 

— E. B. Brownim 



TUESDAY. 

Jacob at Beth-el. — Gen. xxviii. 10-22. 



10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and 
went toward Haran. 

11 And he lighted upon a cert.iin place, and 
tarried there all night, because the sun was set ; 
and he took of the stones of that place, and put 
them for his pillows, and lay down in that place 
to sleep. 

12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set 
up on the earth, and the top of it reached to 
heaven : and behold the angels of God ascend- 
ing and descending on it. 

13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and 
s:\id, I am the Lnrd God of Abraham thy father, 
;tnd the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou 
best, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed ; 

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of 
the earth ; and thou shak spread abroad to the 
west, and to the east, and to the north, and to 
the south : and in thee and in thy seed shall all 
the families of the earth be blessed. 

15 And, behold, T'am with thee, and will 
keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and 
will bring thee again into this land ; for I will 
not leave thee, until I have done that which I 
have spoken to thee of. 

The vision at Beth-el may be said to have been the turning-point in the 
life of Jacob. Before that time he had desired the blessing of Abraham for 
its exalted temporalities — after it, he desired it for the sake of that which 
spiritually it conferred. 

What was this ladder ? To that the Saviour gives an interpretation, which, 
of course, is authoritative. In John i. 51, in evident allusion to this vision, 
He says, " Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God as- 



16 And Jacob avi^aked out of his sleep, and 
he said. Surely the Lord is in this place; and I 
knew it not. 

17 And he Was afraid, and said. How dread- 
ful is this place ! this is none other but the house 
of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 

18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, 
and took the stone that he had put for his 
pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil 
upon the top of it. 

19 And he called the name of that place 
Beth-el : but the name of that city was called 
Luz at the first. 

20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying. If God 
v.'ill be vi'ith me, and will keep me in this way 
that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and 
raiment to put on, 

21 So that I come again to my father's h(;use 
in peace ; then shall the Lord be my God : 

22 And this stone, which I have set for a 
pillar, shall be God's house : and of all that 
thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth 
unto thee. 



56 



FOURTH WEEK. 



cendiiig and descending upon the Son of man." He is the way, and the 
truth, and the life, and no one cometh unto the Father but by Him. 

" When the veil is taken from our faces and we see Him, then the ground 
becomes consecrated ground, the stable a sacred place, the lowing of the 
cattle an anthem, Horeb a sanctuary, the land of Midian a holy land, our 
pile of stones a Beth-el." — Lyman Abbott, D. D. 

This sacred story of Jacob's night at Beth-el may serve to teach us that in 
our darkest and most desolate moments God may be using our trouble and 
despondency as a means of drawing our hearts to Him. We may find Him 
nearest when we thought Him farthest off. 



Closet Promise. — He faileth not. — Zeph. iii. 5. 



Blindfolded and alone I stand 

With unknown thresholds on each hand ; 

The darkness deepens as I grope, 

Afraid to fear, afraid to hope : 

Yet this one thing 1 learn to know 

Each day more surely as I go, 



That doorsare opened, ways are made, 
Burdens are lifted or are 'laid, 
By some great law unseen and still, 
Unfathomed purpose to fulfil, 

" Not as I will ! " —H.H. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Shadow of Peter. — Acts v. 12-21 



12 And by the hands of the apostles were 
many signs and wonders wrought among the 
people ; (and they were all with one accord in 
Solomon's porch. 

13 And of the rest durst no man join himself 
to them : but the people magnified them. 

14 And believers were the more added to the 
Lord, multitudes both of men and women ;) 

15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick 
into the streets, and laid them on beds and 
couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter 
passing by might overshadow some of them. 

16 There came also a multitude out of the 
cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick 



folks, and them which were vexed with unclean 
spirits: and they were healed every one. 

17 ^ Then the high priest rose up, and all 
they that were with him, (which is the sect of 
the Sadducees,) and were filled with indigna- 
tion, 

18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and 
put them in the common prison. 

19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened 
the prison doors, and brought them forth, and 
said, 

20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the 
people all the words of this life. 

21 And when they heard that, they entered 
into the temple early in the morning, and taught. 

The Shadow of Peter — this shows his influence ; what prominence he 
gained among his fellows. The Scriptures do not say that the people were 
commanded to lay their sick there. It is not said that any were cured ; but 
they loved Peter, they believed in Peter. Goodness draws men and assures 
them. 

This incident discovers the fact of what a Christian man can do, even with- 
out learning, or wealth, or high position, if he loves Christ, and is filled with 
His spirit, and sets about His work. What was this shadow of Peter but 
the light of Christ in him ? 

The Chri-stian cannot keep his goodness ; his shadow will fall somewhere 



W E D N E vS D A Y . 



57 



all the time ; he must be giving out. What a God we have who can even 
use 02ir shadoiv ! 

"This shadow of blessing should be ours. It should increase yNiih. our 
years. ' May your shadow never be less' has a higher significance than our 
common utterance gives it. Toward sundown that day Peter's shadow was 
longer, and would reach many more. So should it be with us as we jour- 
ney toward the sunset of life — our Christian influence increasing. Let your 
shadow fall widely. Let it fall on the poor, on the needy, ©n your children, 
on the sick, and the stranger and everywhere, God shall be our shade." — 
C. L. Goodall, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy 
the afflicted soul ; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy dark- 
ness be as the noonday ; and the Lord shall guide thee continually. — Isa. 
Iviii. lO, II. 

O Lord, who art our guide even unto death, grant us, I pray Thee, grace 
to follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. In little daily duties to which 
Thou callest us, bow down our wills to simple obedience, patience under 
pain or provocation, strict truthfulness of word and manner, humility, kind- 
ness ; in great acts of duty or perfection, if Thou shouldest call us to them, 
uplift us to self-sacrifice, heroic courage, laying down of life for Thy truth's 
sake, or for a brother. Amen. — C. G. Rossetti. 

THURSDAY. 

Reconciled to God. — Rom. v. 



1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ : 

2 By whom also we have access by faith into 
this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope 
of the glory of God. 

3 And not onty so, but we glory in tribula- 
tions also ; knowing that tribulation worketh 
patience ; 

4 And patience, experience ; and experience, 
hope: 

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because 
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by 
the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

6 For when we were yet without strength, in 
due time Christ died for the ungodly. 

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one 
die : yet peradventure for a good man some 
would even dare to die. 

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, 
in that, vi'hile we were yet sinners, Christ died 
for us. 

9 Much more then, being now justified by 



his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through 
him. 

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were 
reconciled to God by the death of his Son; 
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved 
by his life. 

1 1 And not only so, but we also joy in God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we 
have now received the atonement. 

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into 
the world, and death by sin ; and so death 
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned : 

13 For until the law sin was in the world: 
but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to 
Moses, even over them that had not sinned after 
the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is 
the figure of him that was to come. 

15 But not as the offence, so also is the free 
gift : for if through the offence of one many be 
dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift 



58 



FOURTH WEEK. 



by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Cliiist, hath 
abounded unto many. 

1 6 And not as it was by one that sinned, so 
is the gift : for the judgment 7vas by one to con- 
demnation, but the free gift is of many offences 
unto justification. 

17 For if by one man's offence death reigned 
by one ; much more they which received abun- 
dance of grace and of the gift of righteousness 
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 

18 Therefore, as by the offence of one judg- 
ment came upon all men to condemnation ; even 



so by the righteousness of one the free gift came 
upon all men unto justification of life. 

19 For as by one man's disobedience many 
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one 
shall many be made righteous. 

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence 
might abound. But where sin abounded, grace 
did much more abound : 

21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even 
so might grace reign through righteousness unto 
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. 



The word of God comes to us, not as righteous persons, but as sinners. 
When God wrote to you, do you suppose He thought you an angel ? He 
knew well that you were not. He sent His Son to you because you were in 
peril, and because, unless there was Divine rescue, there would be universal 
ruin. 

" How can one who has made the most solemn confession of his sins be- 
fore God, and then gone away and fallen into the same temptation and re- 
peated the same sins, have the face to go right back and ask God to forgive 
them again ? How can one who rises with the sun, and makes the most 
solemn promises before God, and then before noonday breaks every one of 
them, go back at evening, and kneel down again and say, ' O God, it is the 
purpose of my life to serve Thee?' It is hard for one, so long as he is con- 
scious only of himself, to look up to God and say one word. It is not until 
we have such a consciousness of the glorious forgiving nature of God as to 
forget ourselves that we can have hope of forgiveness through Christ. There 
is something in the boundlessness of God's generosity that gives a man 
hope. In God's love there is hope. In God's faithfulness there is hope. 
In your own there is none. The more you look at yourself, the more you 
feel condemned. I think that every right and well-founded Christian ex- 
perience comes in the end to this, ' I am in mj'self unworthy of God's 
thought, or love, or salvation ; but God is good, and in Him is my hope. 
The grace, and love, and sovereign mercy of God alone save me.' " — //. W. 
Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose 
sin is covered. — Psalm xxxii. I. 



There is a spot to me more dear 

Than native vale or mountain, 
A spot for which affection's tear 

Springs grateful from its fountain. 
'Tis not where kindred souls abouiu 

Though that is almost heaven, 
But where I first my Saviour found. 

And felt my sins forgiven. 



Hard was my toil to reach the shore. 

Long tossed upon the ocean ; 
Above me was the thunder's roar, 

Beneath, the wave's commotion; 
Darkly the pall of night was thrown 

Around me, faint with terror; 
Li that dark hour how did my groan 

Ascend for years of error. 



THURSDAY. 



59 



Sinking and panting, ;i.s for bi-L-alh, 

I knew not help was near me ; 
And cried, " O save me, Lord, from death ! 

Immortal Jesus, hear me ! " 
Then quick as thought 1 felt Him mine, 

My Saviour stood before me ; 
I saw his brightness round me shine, 

And shouted " Glory ! glory ! " 



O sacred hour : () hallowed spot ! 

Where love divine first found me; 
Wherever falls my distant lot, 

My heart shall linger round thee : 
And when from earth I rise to soar 

Up to my home in heaven, 
Down will I cast my eyes once more 

Where I was first forgiven. 

—Rev. Wm. Hunter, D. D. 



FRIDAY. 

David's Prayer in a Cave. — Psalm cxlii. 



5 I cried unto thee, O Lord : I said. Thou 
art my refuge and my poi'tion in the land of the 
living. 

6 Attend unto my cry ; for I am brought very 
low : deliver me from my persecutors ; for they 
are stronger than L 

7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may 
praise thy name : the righteous shall compass 
me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with 



1 I cried unto the Lord with my voice ; with 
my voice unto the Lord did I make my suppli- 
cation. 

2 I poured out my complaint before him ; I 
shewed before him my trouble. 

3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within 
me, then thou knewest my path. In the way 
wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare 
for me. 

4 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, 
but there was no man that would know me : 
refuge failed me ; no man cared for my soul. 

David was in one of his many lurking-places, either Engedi, Adullam, 
or some other lone cavern wherein he could conceal himself from Saul and 
his blood-hounds. "The gloom of the cave is over this psalm, and yet, as 
if standing at the mouth of it, the prophet-poet sees a bright light a little 
beyond." 

" The bravest spirit is sometimes sorely put to it. A heavy fog settles 
down upon the mind, and the man seems drowned, and smothered in it ; 
covered with a cloud, crushed with a load, confused with difficulties, con- 
quered by impossibilities. David was a hero, and yet his spirit sank : he 
could smite a giant down, but he could not keep himself up. He did not 
know his own path, nor feel able to bear his own burden. Observe his com- 
fort : he looked away from his own condition to the ever-observant, all- 
knowing God ; and solaced himself with the fact that all was known to his 
heavenly Friend. Truly it is well for us to know that God knows what we 
do not know. We lose our heads, but God never closes His eyes : our judg- 
ments lose their balance, but the eternal mind is always clear." — C. H. Spur- 
geon. 

" The committing of our cause to God is at once our duty, our safety, and 
our ease." — Abraham Wright. 



Closet Promise. — I will say of the 
fortress; my God; in Him will I tru.st.- 



Lord, He is my 
■Psalm xci. 2. 



refuge and my 



It is best to live day by day, believing that as our day so shall our 



60 



FOURTH WEEK. 



strength be. The grace that helped us over past difficulties will be with 
us to help us over those to come. Let us give up worrying and take to 
trusting." So shall we enter into possession of that peace of God which 
passeth understanding. 

" O holy trust ! O endless sense of rest ! 
Like the beloved John 
To lay his head upon the Saviour's breast, 
And thus to journey on." 



SATURDAY. 

Elijah's God. — i Kings xvii. 1-16. 



1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the 
inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the 
Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I 
stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these 
years, but according to my word. 

2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, 
saying, 

3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, 
and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is 
before Jordan. 

4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of 
the brook; and I have commanded the ravens 
to feed thee there. 

5 So he went and did according unto the 
word of the Lord : for he went and dwelt by 
the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 

6 And the ravens brought him bread and 
flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the 
evening; and he drank of the brook. 

7 And it came to pass after a while, that the 
brook dried up, because there had been no rain 
in the land. 

8 ^ And the word of the Lord came unto 
him, saying, 

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which be- 
longeth to Zidon, and dwell there : behold, I 
have commanded a widow woman there to 
sustain thee. 

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And 

The prophet has not been alone in these experiences. God has been 
hiding His children from the storm ever since Elijah's day. They may not 
have been called to cruel persecution as he was, but they have met 
severe trial in other forms in sufficient measure to test every fibre of their 
being. 

"We should never forget that our need is just as near the thought of 
God as Elijah's was, that He had no greater love for him than for each one 
of us, and that His ability to help us in straitened circumstances has not 
diminished in the least. Elijah's God is ours." — Selected. 

" God always hears when we scrape the bottom of a flour barrel." So said 
the child of a poor widow to his mother, one morning, after she had prayed, 



when he came to the gate of the city, behold, 
the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: 
and he called to her, and said. Fetch me, I 
pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may 
drink. 

1 1 And as she was going to fetch it, he called 
to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel 
of bread in thine hand. 

12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, 
I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a 
barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I 
am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and 
dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, 
and die. 

13 And Elijah said unto her. Fear not; go 
and do as thou hast said : l^ut make me thereof 
a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and 
after make for thee and for thy son. 

14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 
The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall 
the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LoRD 
sendeth rain upon the earth. 

15 And she went and did according to the 
saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her 
house, did eat many days. 

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, nei- 
ther did the cruse of oil fail, according to the 
word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. 



SATURDAY. 



61 



as only the needy can, " Give us this day our daily bread." Beautiful faith 
of childhood ! Why may it not be ours ? God always hears the prayers of 
His children, and He knows when to answer. Our spiritual as well as 
temporal wants are known to Him, and every sincere cry for help enters 
His compassionate ear. When we feel entirely our dependence on Him ; 
when our stock of pride and self-confidence is exhausted; when earthly 
friends and earthly comforts fail us ; the humble cry of " O my Father ! " 
the oftenest brings the speedy answer, " Here, my child." 

Closet Promise. — The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the 
cruse of oil fail. — i Kings xvii. 14. 



Is thy cruse of comfort wasting? rise and share 

it with another, 
And through all the years of famine it shall 

serve thee and thy brother. 

Love Divine will fill thy storehouse, or thy 

handful still renew ; 
Scanty fare for one will often make a royal feast 

for two. 

For the heart grows rich in giving ; all its 

wealth is living grain; 
Seeds, which mildew in the garner, scatter'd, fill 

with gold the plain. 

Is thy burden hard and heavy? do thy steps 

drag wearily ? 
Help to bear thy brother's burden ; God will 

bear both it and thee. 



Numb and weary on the mountains, wouldst 

thou sleep amidst the snow ? 
Chafe that frozen form beside thee, and together 

both shall glow. 

Art thou stricken in life's battle ? Many wounded 

round thee moan ; 
Lavish on their wounds thy balsams, and that 

balm shall heal thine own. 

Is the heart a well left empty ? None but God 
its void can fill ; 

Nothing but a ceaseless Fountain can its cease- 
less longings still. 

Is the heart a living power? self-entwin'd, its 

strength sinks low ; 
It can only live in loving, and by serving love 

will grow. 

—Selected. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto.— I am the bread of life.— John vi. 35. 

Weekly Proverb. — Be not all sugar, or the world will swallow thee 
up ; nor yet all wormwood, or the world will spit thee out. — Persian 
Proverb. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— DAVID'S PSALM PICTURES. 

Sunday. — Flourishing as a Palm Tree. — Psa. xcii. I-15. 
Monday. — The Escape from a Horrible Pit. — Psa. xl. I-17. 
Tuesday. — Sowing Tears and Reaping Joy. — Psa. cxxvi. 1-6. 
Wednesday. — A River of Joy. — Psa. xlvi. i-ii. 
Thursday. — Whiter than Snow. — Psa. li. I-19. 
Friday. — The Throne of Iniquity. — Psa. xciv. 1-23. 
Saturday. — Broken-down Hedges. — Ps. Ixxx. I-19. 
4 



62 



FOURTH WEEK. 



AN OLD STORY. 



The pussy cat said, 

As she lifted her head, 
And gracefully raised her dainty paw, 
" Dear Robin, I've heard 

You're the sweetest bird 
That ever a mortal saw." 

" Don't flatter me so — 
It's wrong, you know — 

The' better judges have said the same.'' 
Then the quick blood rushed. 
And she blushed and blushed 

Down to her bosom of flame. 



" But, you see," said kitty, 
" It's such a pity 
To waste your charms on the desert air ; 
I vow it's a shame 
For so rare a dame 
To pine in seclusion there." 

Then pussy cat smiled, 

And Robin, beguiled 
By her gay and treacherous laughter, 

Alighted at once 

On the ground, like a dunce. 
And never was heard of after ! 

Selected. 



Honor thy father and thy mother. — Ex. xx. 12. 

I suppose you all know this is the fifth commandment. It tells us how 
boys and girls ought to behave at home ! And a certain writer has said, 
" You show me a boy or girl, who is not a good son or daughter, who does 
not honor father and mother, and I will show you one who will not make a 
good man or woman." Do you want to know one of the best ways to 
honor father and mother ? It is to obey them. I fear m.any boys and girls 
do not like to do that. A merqhant advertised for a boy to assist in his 
store, and go on errands. The next day his store was thronged with all 
kinds of boys; and, not knowing which to choose, he advertised again, as 
follows : " Wanted, to assist in a store, a boy zvho obeys his mother." Only 
tzvo boys ventured to apply for the situation. I hope all my little 
readers are like those two boys — obedient. God expects us to show all 
possible respect to our parents. Never speak of them as the " old man " or 
the " old lady." God expects us to take care of our parents, and do all we 
can to make them comfortable, when they are sick, or aged, or poor. My 
earnest hope is, you will all resolve always to keep this fifth commandment. 



THE RABBIT ON THE WALL. 

Our picture is a scene in an old-fashioned home. All the articles of 
furniture in the room are old-fashioned. Let us see how many things we 
can find hanging around — some on the wall and others on the rafters. 
Beginning on the right, I see an old-time towel rack, with the towel on it; 
the big door-key ; the long toasting fork ; the horse's bridle ; the queer wall 
cupboard for dishes; the powder flask ; the bellows for blowing the fire; 
the candle hanging on the wall; the shears for shearing the sheep; the 
fishing rod and line ; and a fine pair of wild ducks. I expect you will see 
many more things. 

The time is evening. The mother holds baby ; the sister holds the candle 




THE RABBIT ON THE WALL. 

63 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 63 

so it will throw a shadow ; the father is making with his hands the shadow 
of a rabbit on the wall. I suppose we all remember happy times like this 
in our homes. 

Home should be the centre of joy. " She always made home happy " — 
is what a husband, after sixty years of married life, put upon his wife's 
tombstone. Dr. J. Hamilton says : " I might ask, * What is it makes home ? ' 
and you will answer, 'A mother's love.' You know what it would be to 
spend one of your winter evenings in a chamber without a fire on the hearth 
or a carpet on the floor : even though the furniture were costly, and the friends 
congenial, nothing could impart the lacking comfort, or diffuse the wonted 
radiance. And in this wintry world a tender mother's love and a pious 
mother's care are the carpet on the floor and the blaze on the evening hearth. 
They make the home ; and to life's latest moment they mingle in every 
picture of pre-eminent happiness." 



FIFTH AA^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— At the same time, saith the Lord, will 
Israel, and they shall be my people. — Jer. xxxi. i. 



I be the God of all the families of 



The family is like a book, 
The children are the leaves. 

The parents are the covers that 
Protective beauty give. 



Love is the little golden clasp 
That hindeth up the trust ; 

Oh break it not, lest all the leaves 
Shall scatter and be lost. 

—Selected. 



Every family should be a little church, and every church should be a large 
family. — Dr. Arnot. 

Wherever a true wife comes, home is always around her. The stars may 
be over her head ; the glow-worm in the night-cold grass may be the fire at 
her foot ; but home is where she is ; and for a noble woman it stretches far 
around her, better than houses ceiled with cedar or painted with vermilion, 
shedding its quiet light far for those who else are homeless. — Ruskin. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 



Kept.- 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant 
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope 
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead, 

4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and un- 
defiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved 
in heaven for you, 

5 Who are kept by the power of God through 
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the 
last time. 

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now 
for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness 
through manifold temptations : 

7 That the trial of your faith, being much 
more precious than of gold that perisheth, 
though it be tried with fire, might be found 
unto praise and honour and glory at the appear- 
ing of Jesus Christ: 

8 Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, 
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye 
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory : 

9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the 
salvation of your souls. 

10 Of which salvation the prophets have in- 

" Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation " (ver. 
5). Believers are fenced in by the power of God (Job i. lo), and by angel 
(66) 



Pet. i. 3-1 6. 

quired and searched diligently, who prophesied 
of the grace thai should come unto you : 

1 1 Searching what, or what manner of time 
the Spirit of Christ which was in them did 
signify, when it testified beforehand the suf- 
ferings of Christ, and the glory that should 
follow. 

12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not 
unto themselves, but unto us they did minister 
the things, which are now reported unto you by 
them that have preached the gospel unto you 
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; 
which things the angels desire to look into. 

13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your 
mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the 
grace that is to be brought unto you at the 
revelation of Jesus Christ ; 

14 As obedient children, not fashioning your- 
selves according to the former lusts in your 
ignorance : 

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, 
so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 

16 Because it is written. Be ye holy ; for I am 
holy. 



SUNDAY. 



67 



watchers (Psa. xxxiv. 7). Less than Divine power is insufficient. Your 
hand of faith in His hand of power, determines your safety. 

When I call to mind, that "in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good 
thing ; " when I remember, that though renewed in the spirit of my mind, 
yet in that unrenewed part of myself, which is hastening to the grave, every 
member is virtually all sin ; with what humbleness of soul ought I to fall 
down before the throne of grace, in the consciousness that it is Divine 
restraint, and not creature merit which keeps me. Help me. Lord, to go 
humble all my days in this view, and let it be my morning thought and my 
mid-day and evening meditation, that I am kept by Thy power through faith 
unto salvation. 

Verse 8 is one of the most precious passages in the Word of God. " You 
that are called of God, you that have a hope in Jesus Christ, have not only 
a duty, but a right of joy. It is a part of that treasure which God has given 
you. And you should be increasingly joyful. The older you grow, and 
the nearer you come to the kingdom of heaven, the more your heart should 
shine, and the more your tongue should bear witness to the goodness of Him 
that has redeemed you." — H. W. Beccher. 

Closet Promise. — I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never 
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. — John x. 28. 

Though the oath of an earthly sovereign may be broken, my King (in 
glorious contrast to the imperfect human type) " keepeth His promise for- 
ever." His covenant will He not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out 
of His lips. Therefore, the eternal life which He hath promised me is 
secured to me forever. 

MONDAY. 

The Song of the Ascension.— Psalm xxiv. 



1 The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness 
thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 

2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and 
established it upon the floods. 

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? 
or who shall stand in his holy place ? 

4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart ; 
who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor 
sworn deceitfully. 

5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, 
and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 



6 This is the generation of them that seek 
him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah. 

7 Lift up your heads, 6 ye gates; and be ye 
lifted up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King 
of glory shall come in. 

8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord 
strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 

9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; even lift 
them up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King of 
glory shall come in. 

10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord 
of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah. 

"This sacred hymn was probably written to be sung when the ark of the 
covenant was taken up from the house of Obed-edom, to remain within 



08 



FIFTH WEFK. 



curtains upon the hill of Zion. The words are not unsuitable for the sacred 
dance of joy in which David led the way upon that joyful occasion. The 
eye of the psalmist looked, however, beyond the typical upgoing of the ark 
to the sublime ascension of the King of glory." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

It consists of three parts. The first glorifies the true God, and sings of 
his universal dominion ; the second describes the true Israel, who are able 
to commune with him ; and the third pictures the ascent of the true Re- 
deemer, who has opened heaven's gates for the entrance of his elect. 

" Christ has gone to heaven as a victor ; leading sin, Satan, death, hell, 
and all His enemies, in triumph at His chariot wheels. He has not only 
overcome His enemies for Himself, but for all His people, whom He will make 
conquerors, yea, ' more than conquerors.' As He has overcome, so shall 
they also overcome; and as He is gone to heaven a victor, they shall fol- 
low in triumph." — Henry Peiidlebury. 

Closet Promise. — Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our 
faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising 
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. — Heb. 
xii. 2. 



Come prosperity or sorrow, come the brightest 
joys or grief, 

Tho' the golden grain of Pleasure may decay 
within its sheaf, 

We may count a gain in all things, for we can- 
not suffer loss 

While we dwell within His presence, " in the 
shadow of the cross." 

In this shadow we are learning richest truths 

about our God, 
Oft we find our grandest lessons 'neath the 

chastening of His rod. 
In the fiercest fires of conflict He is melting out 

the dross. 
But He gives us final triumph " 'neath the 

shadow of the cross." 



Nothing shall befall the Christian, but shall 

work his highest good, 
Heaviest griefs would seem rich blessings if 

they were but understood. 
Tho' the storm may rage, and billows here and 

there our life -bark toss. 
We are safe if each day finds us " in the shadow 

of the cross." 

Jesas, loving Saviour, keep us, for Thine own 
we fain would be ; 

Every thought and word and action conse- 
crated, Lord, to Thee. 

As of old Thou ledd'st Thy people all the 
desert way across, 

Gentle Saviour, lead and guide us by the 
shadow of Thy cross. 

— Aiigtistus Treadwell. 



TUESDAY. 

The Forgiveness of Injuries. — Matt, xviii. 21-35 



21 \ Then came Peter to him, and said. Lord, 
how oft shall my l)rother sin against me, and I 
forgive him? till seven times? 

22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, 
Until seven times : but, Until seventy times 
seven. 

23 \ Therefore is the kingdom of heaven 
likened unto a certain king, which would take 
account of his servants. 



24 And when he had begun to reckon, one 
was brought unto him, which owed him ten 
thousand talents. 

25 But forasmuch os he had not to pay, his 
lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, 
and children, and all that he had, and payment 
to be made. 

26 The servant therefore fell down, and wor- 



TUESDAY. G9 



shipped him, saying, LorH, have patience with 
me, and 1 will pay thee all. 

27 Then the lord of that servant was moved 
with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave 



done, they were very sorry, ai.d OLu.e ^nd told 
unto their lord all that was done. 

32 Then bis lord, af;er that he had called 
d unto him, O thou m iclced servant, I 



him the debt. i for-.>ve thee all that debt, because thou desiredst 

28 But the same servant went out, and found 



one of liis fellow servants, which owed him a 
hundred pence : and he laid hands on him, and 
took hiju by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou 
owest. 

29 And his fellow servant fell down at his 
feet, and besought him, saying. Have patience 
with me, and I will pay thee all. 

30 And he would not : but went and cast him 
into prison, till he should pay the debt. 

31 So when his fellow servants saw what was 



33 Shouldest not thou also have had compas- 
sion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity or. 
thee? 

34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered liiin 
to the tormentors, 111 i he should jay all that v, as 
due unto him. 

35 So likewise shall my heaveidy Father do 
also unto )'oii, if ye from your hearts forgive not 
every one his brother their trespasses. 



" Suppose God should treat us as we treat men, what would becotne of 
any one of us ? If he were strict to mark and to judge, to condemn and to 
punish, who of us couM stand for one single moment ? We are the very 
men that are set forth in the parable of the unmerciful servant. Is it not so? 
.... Who is there that can rise up before God and saj', ' I have a right 
to condemn, for I have never sinned ? ' " — //. W. Bcccher. 

" Forgiveness must be real and true. We may not forgive with our lips, 
and bear malice in our hearts. Such sham forgiveness is only too common. 
A man was lying on his sick-bed, and the clergyman by his side was urging 
him to be reconciled to some one who had injured him. After much per- 
suasion the man said, ' If I die I will forgive him, but if I live he had better 
keep out of my way.' And again, our forgiveness must be willing, not 
forced from us." — Buxton Wilmot. 

"All desire of revenge must be carefully cast out; and if the wrongdoer 
say, ' I repent,' you must say, ' I remit,' and that from the heart ; being herein 
like that king of England of whom it is said that he never forgot anything 
but injuries." — yohn Trapp. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants ; and 
none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate: — Psalm xxxiv. 22. 

" The sickness of the last week was fine medicine ; pain disintegrated the 
spirit, or became spiritual. I rose — I felt that I had given to God more 
perhaps than an angel could — had promised Him in youth that to be a blot 
on this fair world, at His command, would be acceptable. Constantly offer 
myself to continue the obscurest and loneliest thing ever heard of, with one 
proviso — His agency. Yes, love Thee, and all Thou dost, while Thou 
sheddest frost and darkness on every path of mine." — Mary Moody Emerson. 



70 



FIFTH WEEK. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Remedy for Trouble.^— Psalm Iv. 



1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide 
not thyself from my supplication. 

2 Attend unto me, and hear me : I mourn in 
my complaint, and make a noise ; 

3 Because of the voice of tlie enemy, because 
of the oppression of the wicked : for they cast 
iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. 

4 My heart is sore pained within me : and 
the terrors of death are fallen upon me. 

5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon 
me, and honor hath overwhelmed me. 

6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a 
dove ! for then would I fly away, and be at 
rest. 

7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and re- 
main in the wilderness. Selah. 

8 I would hasten my escape from the windy 
storm and tempest. 

9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues : 
for I have seen violence and strife in the city. 

10 Day and night they go about it upon the 
walls thereof : mischief also and sorrow are in 
the midst of it. 

11 Wickedness win the midst thereof: deceit 
and guile depart not from her streets. 

12 For it was not an enemy ///r?/" reproached 
me; then 1 could have borne it : neither 7vas it 
he that hated me that did magnify hitn self ugamst 
me; then I would have hid myself from him : 

13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my 
guide, and mine acquaintance. 



14 We took sweet counsel together, and 
walked unto the house of God in company. 

15 Let death seize upon them, and let them 
go down quick into hell : for wickedness is in 
their dwellings, and zxaong them. 

16 As for me, I will call upon God ; and the 
Lord shall save me. 

17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will 
I pray, and cry aloud : and he shall hear my 
voice. 

18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from 
the battle that was against me : for there were 
many with me. 

19 God shall hear, and afflict them, even he 
that alndeth of old. Selah. Because they have 
no changes, therefore they fear not God. 

20 He hath put forth his hands against such 
as be at peace with him : he hath broken his 
covenant. 

21 77ie words of his mouth were smoother 
than butter, but wnr was in his heart : his words 
were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. 

22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he 
shall sustain thee : he shall never suffer the 
righteous to be moved. 

23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down 
into the pit of destruction : bloody and deceitful 
men shall not live out half their days; but I 
will trust in thee. 



This Psalm clearly relates to that mournful era in David's life when he 
was flying from his treacherous son Absalom. David wakes up to the 
awful surprise that he is environed by a vast and thoroughly organized re- 
bellion, led on by his own son. Something must be done immediately. 
Now how he sings of it all in verses 4, 5, 9, 10, 11. Besides this, Ahitho- 
phel, his trusted counsellor, has deserted him. David goes on to wail con- 
cerning him, in verses 12, 13, 14, and 20. Surely he had trouble enough. 
" Oh ! " cries David, " let me get out of this ; let me go somewhere, any- 
where, that I may be delivered from this dinning trouble " (verses 6, 7, 8). 

How natural is all this ! what a constantly longed-for remedy for various 
assaulting trouble is this to-day — -just to get aivay from and leave it behind! 
But the remedy does not lie that way. There is a better remedy for trouble. 
Steadily, as this Psalm goes on, we see David himself turning toward this 
better remedy. In verses 16, 17, he says, 'As for me, I will call upon God " 
— there is prayer. In verse 22 he says, " Cast thy burden upon the Lord, 
and He shall sustain thee : He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved " 



WEDNESDAY. 



71 



— there is commitment of trouble to God. In verse 23 he says, " But I ivill 
trust in thee " — there \s faith. Here is the true remedy for trouble. 



Closet Promise. 

thee. — Psalm Iv. 22. 



-Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain 



To every one on earth 
God gives a burden, to be carried down 
The road that lies between the cross and crown ; 

No lot is wholly free, 

He giveth one to thee. 

Some carry it aloft, 

Open and visible to any eyes, 

And all may see its weight and form and size ; 
Some hide it in their breast. 
And deem it thus unguessed. 

Thy burden is God's gift, 
And it will make the bearer calm and strong ; 
Yet, lest it press too heavily and long, 

He says : Cast it on Me, 

And it shall easy be. 



And those who heed His voice. 
And seek to give it back in trustful prayer, 
Have quiet hearts that never can despair; 

And hope lights up the way 

Upon the darkest day. 

Take thou thy burden thus 
Into thy hands, and lay it at His feet; 
And whether it be sorrow or defeat, 

Or pain, or sin, or care. 

Oh leave it calmly there. 

It is the lonely load 

That crushes out the life and light of heaven ! 

But, borne with Him, the soul restored, forgiven. 
Sing out through all the days 
Her joy, and God's high praise. 

— Marianne Farninghavi. 



THURSDAY. 

The Garden of Eden. — Gen. ii. 7-25. 



7 And the Lord God formed man o/"the dust 
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the 
breath of life ; and man became a living soul. 

8 \ And the Lord God planted a garden 
eastward in Eden; and there he put the man 
whom he had formed. 

9 And out of the ground made the Lord God 
to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, 
and good for food ; the tree of life also in the 
midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil. 

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the 
garden ; and from thence it was parted, and be- 
came into four heads. 

11 The name of the first is Pison : that is it 
which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, 
where there is gold ; 

12 And the gold of that land is good : there 
is bdellium and the onyx stone. 

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon : 
the same is it that compasseth the whole land 
of Ethiopia. 

14 And the name of the third river is Hidde- 
kel : that is it which goeth toward the east of 
Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 

15 And the Lord God took the man, and 
put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and 
to keep it. 

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, 
saying. Of every tree of the garden thou mayest 
freely eat : 



17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in the day 
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

18 \ And the Lord God said. It is not good 
that the man should be alone ; I will make him 
a help meet for him. 

19 And out of the ground the Lord God 
formed every beast of the field, and every fowl 
of the air ; and brought them unto Adam to see 
what he would call them : and whatsoever 
Ad.im called every living creature, that was the 
name thereof. 

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and 
to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the 
field ; but for Adam there was not found a help 
meet for him, 

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep 
to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took 
one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead 
thereof. 

22 And the rib, which the Lord God had 
taken from man, made he a woman, and brought 
her unto the man. 

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my 
hones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called 
Woman, because she was taken out of man. 

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and 
his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and 
they shall be one flesh. 

25 And they were both naked, the man and 
his wife, and were not ashamed. 



72 



FIFTH WEFK, 



One of the happinesses of paradise was employment — not idleness. And 
God Himself chose for Adam his occupation. He has done so also for 
each of us. In the garden where God puts you He will find your work ; 
some flowers to rear and cultivate; some human minds to which you may 
do good ; some plantations of Divine grace which you may dress and water, 
and so be a fellow-worker with Him who gives the increase. 

God also placed man under a law in paradise. For our own sakes, for 
our own true happiness, God would have us keep Him in our thoughts. 
The yielding up our own will to His has greater sweetness to the taste than 
pleasing ourselves ever had. 

" To every human being, not less than to Adam, God has given a garden 
to till and to keep : it is the garden within him. Alas ! this garden of the 
soul is no longer an Eden. An enemy hath come and sown tares (Matt, 
xiii. 25). Instead of the fir-tree has come up the thorn, and instead of the 
myrtle-tree has come up the brier (Isa. Iv. 13). Nevertheless, the capacity 

of paradise still lies latent within us all And when we let Christ 

have His way in our hearts; when we let Him drive the ploughshare of His 
Spirit's conviction, uprooting tares, and thorns, and all baleful weeds ; when 
we let Him sow the good seed of the kingdom, which is the word of God; 
when we let Him quicken it with the warmth of His breath, and water it 
with the dev/s of His grace, and hue it with the sunshine of His beauty ; 
then does paradise lost become paradise found ; then is brought to pass — 
oh, how gloriously ! — the saying of the poet-prophet, ' The wilderness and 
the solitary place shall be glad for them ; and the desert shall rejoice, and 
blossom as the rose' (Isa. xxxv. l)." — G. D. Boardman, D.D. 

Closet Promise. — They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly : 
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God : for He hath prepared 
for them a city. — Heb. xi. 16. 



' Lift, lift thy wondering eyes, yonder in Para- 
dise, 
And this fair shining band are spirits of that 



And these that throng to meet thee are thy kin- 
Redeemed from sin." 



FRIDAY. 

Paradise Lost.— Gen. iii. 



1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any 
beast of the field which the Lord God had 
made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath 
God said. Ye shall not eat of every tree of the 
garden ? 

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We 
may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden : 



3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the 
midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall 
not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye 
die. 

4 And the serpent said unto the woman. Ye 
shall not surely die : 

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat 



FRIDAY. 



73 



thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye 
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

6 And when Ihe woman saw that the tree was 
good for food, and that it 7cit7s pleasant to the 
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make otie wise, 
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and 
gave also unto her husband with her ; and he 
did eat. 

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, 
and they knew that they we?e naked ; and they 
sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves 
aprons. 

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God 
walking in the garden in the cool of tlie day: 
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the 
presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of 
the garden. 

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and 
said unto him. Where «;-/ thou ? 

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the gar- 
den, and I was afraid, because I was naked ; 
and I hid myself. 

1 1 And he said, Who told thee that thou uuis/ 
naked ? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I 
commanded ihee that thou shouldest not eat? 

12 And the man said, The woman whom thou 
gavest io be with me, she gave me of the tree, 
and I did eat. 

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, 
What is this that thou hast done? And the 
woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did 
eat. 

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent. 
Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed 
above all cattle, and above every beast of the 
field ; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust 
shalt thou eat all the days of thy life : 

15 And I will put enmity between thee and 



the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; 
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise 
his heel. 

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly 
multiply thy sorrow and thy conception ; in sor- 
row thou shalt bring forth chilch'en ; and thy 
desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule 
over thee. 

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou 
hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and 
hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded 
thee, saying. Thou shalt not eat of it : cursed is 
the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou 
eat o/it all the days of thy life; 

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring 
forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb of the 
field: 

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 
bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out 
of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and 
unto dust shalt thou return. 

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve ; 
because she was the mother of all living. 

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the 
Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed 
them. 

22 ^And the Lord God said, Behold, the 
man is become as one of us, to know good and 
evil : and now, lest he put forth his hand, and 
take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for 
ever : 

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth 
from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from 
whence he was taken. 

24 So he drove out the man : and he placed 
at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and 
a flaming sword which turned every way, to 
keep the way of the tree of life. 



Learn, here, that however clearly we may be able to trace the Divine 
hand in bringing us into any position or calling, we may there yield to the 
tempter, and fall. That God can build no Eden this side the gates of glory 
which man cannot curse and wither, by listening to the suggestions of the 
devil. 

" Mark the steps of the transgression. She ' saw : ' she should have 
turned away her eyes from beholding vanity ; but she enters into tempta- 
tion by looking with pleasure on the forbidden fruit. ' She took : ' it was 
her own act and deed. Satan may tempt, but he cannot force us into sin. 
She ' did eat : ' when first she looked, perhaps she meant not to touch, or if 
she took, not to eat; but who can say, So far I will go in sin, and no further? 
It is a downward road. Our only safety is to stop the first thought, the first 
beginning. She ' gave also unto her husband with her.' No sooner was 
Eve a sinner than, like the devil, she became a tempter." — E. Blencowe, 
M.A. 



74 



FIFTH WEEK. 



Sin makes us afraid of God. There is no friend so good as a good con- 
science. There is no foe so ill as a bad conscience. It makes us either 
kings or slaves. 

"So He drove out the many God did not turn Adam out of Paradise till 
Adam had turned God out. It is a long lesson to learn to be able to keep 
the garden of the Lord, and the Lord of the garden both. 

Closet Promise. — In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the 
house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for unclean- 
ness. — Zech. xiii. I. 



O precious blood ! Lord, let it rest on me ! 

I ask not only pardon from my King, 
But cleansing from my Priest. I come to Thee 

Just as I came at first — a sinful, helpless 
thing. . 

Oh, cleanse me now ! My Lord, I cannot stay 
For evening shadows and a silent hour : 



Now I have sinned, and now, with no delay, 
I claim Thy promise and its total power. 

O Saviour, bid me ' go and sin no more,' 

And keep me always 'neath the mighty flow 
Of Thy perpetual fountain; I implore 

That Thy perpetual cleansing I may fullv 
know. 

— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



SATURDAY. 

The New Birth. — John iii. 1-21. 



1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named 
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said 
\into him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher 
come from God : for no man can do these 
miracles that thou doest, except God be with 
him. 

3 Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily, 
verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born 
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

4 Nicodemus saith unto him. How can a 
man be born when he is old ? can he enter the 
second time into his mother's womb, and be 
born ? 

5 Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto 
thee. Except a man be born of water and o/the 
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
God. 

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; 
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye must 
be born again. 

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and 
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not 
tell whence it comelh, and whither it goeth : so 
is every one that is born of the .Spirit. 

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him. 
How can these things be ? 

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art 
thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these 
things ? 

1 1 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak 
that v.e do know, and testify that we have seen ; 
and ye receive not our witness. 



12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye 
believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you 
of heavenly things ? 

13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, 
but he that came down from heaven, even the 
Son of man which is in heaven. 

14 T[ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up : 

15 That whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have eternal life. 

16 \ For God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life. 

17 For God sent not his Son into the world 
to condemn the world ; but that the world 
through him might be saved. 

1 8 \ He that believeth on him is not con- 
demned : but he that believeth not is condemned 
already, because he hath not believed in the 
name of the only begotten Son of God. 

19 And this is the condemnation, that light 
is come into the world, and men loved dark- 
ness rather than light, because their deeds were 
evil. 

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the 
light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds 
should he reproved. 

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the 
light, that his deeds may be made manifest, 
that they are wrought in God. 



SATURDAY. 75 

" Those who come to Jesus by night with penitent and anxious hearts, 
will see the morning light with joy." — Selected. 

" We must be born again ; it is not a dead nature, nor a dead faith, can 
produce living fruit for God. We may as well read without eyes, walk with- 
out legs, act without life, as perform any service to God without a new 
nature; no, we cannot perform the least; a dead man can no more move 
his finger than his whole body." — CJiarnock. 

We often make narrow entrances, through which but one at a time can 
pass, that we may examine his ticket, and see whether he has a right to 
pass. And, be sure, though we may look respectable on the fashionable 
broadway of world or church, we cannot enter heaven as those who pass 
in a crowd. God deals with souls as men deal with sovereigns, which they 
examine and weigh one by one. Like Nicodemus we must each come to 
Christ personally. Do not be afraid to bow before Jesus. The testimony 
of Christ's life, and the mission of his death, and that everlasting love that 
streams from the cross is, " God so loved the world." God is the sufferer, 
and not one that makes suffering. 

Closet Promise. — Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on 
Me hath everlasting life. — John vi. 47. 

" What does this mean ? Just what it says, and nothing less ! It means 
that even if you never believed before — even if you never had a spark of 
faith or glimmer of hope before — yet if you have now given your heart- 
assent to Jesus and His finished work, you have now everlasting life ! That 
heart-assent is believing ; and ' he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
life.' " — F. R. Havergal. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — My cup runneth over. — Ps. xxiii. 5. 
"Weekly Proverb. — East and West, at home the best. — German. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— LESSONS THE BIRDS TEACH. 

Sunday. — The Stork. — ^Jer. viii. 4-12. 
Monday. — ^The Doves. — Isa. Ix. 1-22. 
Tuesday. — The Sparrows. — Matt. x. 28-42. 
Wednesday. — The Fowls of the Air. — Matt. vi. 24-34. 
Thursday. — The Eagle. — Deut. xxxii. 7-14. 
Friday. — The Owl. — Psa. cii. 1-28. 
Saturday. — The Ravens. — Psa. cxlvii. 1-20. 



76 



FIFTH WESK. 



WORTH KNOWING. 



A jolly little bootblack, going on his way, 

And working in all kinds of weather. 
And valiantly making the best of his day, 

While jingling his pennies together, 
Will turn out a man, twenty chances to one. 

More honored than many another, 
Whose boyhood is pampered, who lives but for 
fun, 

The pride of his father and mother. 



Reliance on self, and a spirit to bear 

Misfortune without any fretting. 
And pluck that will take him past pitfall and 
snare, 
No cheating, no lying, no betting; 
Yes, these are the traits that will make of the 
boy 
A man that is well worth your knowing; 
Such gold is pure metal, no dross, no alloy — 
Rich harvests succeed to his sowing. 

— Mary M. Andersun. 



Evil communications corrupt good manners. — i Cor. xvi. 33. 

If you put that in plain language, it means bad company makes bad boys 
and girls. There are two old Spanish proverbs which I wish you to learn : 
first, " He that goes with wolves learns to howl ; " second, " He that lies 
down with dogs gets up with fleas." I read soinething once that shows the 
effects of keeping bad company. The crows, one spring, began to pull up 
a farmer's young corn. He loaded his gun, and prepared to give them a 
warm reception. The farmer had a sociable parrot, who, discovering the 
crows pulling up the corn, flew over and joined them. The farmer did not 
see the parrot. He fired among the crows ; then went over to the spot ; 
there lay three dead crows, and his pet parrot, with a broken leg. When 
the bird was taken home, the children asked, " What hurt our pretty Poll ? " 
" Bad company ! bad company ! " answered the parrot in a solemn voice. 
" Ay ! that it was," said the farmer. " Poll was with those wicked crows 
when I fired, and received a shot intended for them. Remember the parrot's 
late, children : beware of bad company." In a few weeks the parrot's leg 
Avas all right again. But it never forgot its adventure in the corn-field; and, 
if ever the farmer's children engaged in play with quarrelsome companions, 
it would say, " Bad company ! bad company ! " Children, remember Polly's 




A SPRING OF LIFE. 

78 • 



THE SPRING OF LIFE. 

The artist here represents a spring of water flowing from the side of a 
rock, and running down into a clear and beautiful stream, from which the 
children are drinking. The purpose of the picture is to suggest to our 
minds that " living water " of which the Bible speaks, and which satisfies our 
longings as nothing else can do. While at every well of earthly pleasure 
we must day after day draw again and again for a temporary gratification of 
our thirst for happiness, he who takes into his heart this " fountain of the 
indwelling Spirit" shall " 7iever thirst" for other draughts, but "with joy 
shall he draw water out of the wells of salvation." And " every one that 
thirsteth may come to these waters " and be satisfied. 

A certain man, who had been very worldly-minded, was brought to feel 
that he was a sinner. For some time he concealed his feelings even from 
his wife, who was a praying woman. She left him one evening in charge 
of his little girl of three years of age. The little girl noticed his agitation, 
and asked, " What ails you, pa? " He replied, " Nothing," and endeavored 
to quiet his feelings, but all in vain. The child looked up into his face, and 
inquired, with all the simplicity of childhood, " Pa, if you were dry, wouldn't 
you go and get a drink of water ? " The father .started as if a voice from 
heaven had fallen on his ear. He thought of his thirsty soul famishing for 
the waters of life ; he thought of that living fountain opened in the gospel ; 
he believed, and straightway fell at the Saviour's feet. From that hour, he 
dates the dawning of a new light and the beginning of a new life. 

(79) 



SIXTH VsAEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— I will trust in the covert of thy wings.— Psalm Ixi. 4. 



His love is wise, 

His wounds a cure intend: 



And; though He does not always smile. 
He loves unto the end. 

—Selected. 



If a man will make his nest below, God will put a thorn in it — and if that 
will not do, He will set it on fire. — John Newton. 

When the threshold of your heart is sore with the tread of departing joys, 
remember that Christ is emptying you of all else that He may fill you with 
Himself. — Selected. 

It is a good sign when the Lord blows off the blossoms of our froward 
hopes in this life, and tops the branches of our worldly joys to the very 
root, on purpose that they should not thrive. Lord, spoil my fool's heaven 
in this life, that I may be saved forever ! — Rutherford. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Greatest Thing. — i Cor. xiii. 



1 Though I speak with the tongues of men 
and of angels, and have not charity, I am 
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cym- 
bal. 

2 And though 1 have the gift of prophecy, 
and understand all mysteries, and all knowl- 
edge; and though I have all faith, so that 
I could remove mountains, and have not chanty, 
I am nothing. 

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed 
the poor, and though I give my body to be 
burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me 
nothing. 

4 Charity suffereth long, ajtd is kind ; charity 
envieth not ; charily vaunteth not itself, is not 
puffed up, 

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh 
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh 
no evil ; 

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in 
the truth ; 



7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, 
hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

8 Charity never faileth : but whether there 
be prophecies, they shall fail ; vifhether there 
he tongues, they shall cease ; whether the7'e be 
knowledge, it shall vanish away. 

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in 
part. 

10 But when that which is perfect is come, 
then that which is in part shall be done away. 

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I 
understood as a child, I thought as a child : 
but when I became a man, I put away childish 
things. 

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly ; 
but then face to face: now I know in part; 
but then shall I know even as also I am known. 

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, 
these three ; but the greatest of these is charity. 



" Nowhere in the Bible is it said that God \s faith — or, that God is hope — 

but it is said, 'God is love,' infinite and eternal loye. If we, therefore, dwell 

in love we dwell in God, and God in us — we get so far into the bosom of 

The Infinite, that the world, the flesh and the devil have no power over us. 

(80) 



riUNDAY. 81 

Oh, blissful condition ! Let us be emulous to rise to this high, New Testa- 
ment estate." — Selected. 

" Faith receives good, love does good. Faith and hope profit me only, but 
love serves many!' — Hed. 

Gifts do not make a man worthy. Satan has gifts. Gifts are what we have ; 
love is what we are. 

We need to study carefully verses 4-7. In them we have Love's treatment 
of others. Love is slow to resent. It does not soon fly into a rage. Not 
only does it bear with the vexatious; but it is ''kind" to them. Love 
envieth not — the good fortune of others does not make \\. jealous. It has no 
spiritual pride. In its own eyes it has not reached spiritual perfection. It is 
" not easily provoked." Where there is little patience, there is little love. 
Love is not the mother of suspicion. " Faults are thick where love is thin." 
It does not rejoice in iniquity, or in slips of its neighbor. It doesn't relish 
scandal. " Beareth (covereth) all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
things" — love believes in the possibility of reformation. 

Love says there is some good in the most disagreeable people. " The 
snapdragon is a yellow weed, growing by the roadside, and in the fields, the 
abomination of the farmers ; it has a very unsavory smell, and I have never 
seen even a goat eat it, but I noticed the other day a bumble-bee on 
one, a honey-bee on another, and a butterfly on a third. I should not 
have been surprised to have seen a humming-bird on a fourth — something 
sweet even in a snapdragon ! Not only disagreeable people may have 
something sweet in them, but snapdragon circumstances may, too." — 
Selected. 

Closet Promise.— God is love. — i John iv. 8. 

" We never know through what divine mysteries of compensation the great 
Father of the universe may be carrying out His sublime plan ; but the words 
' God is love ' ought to contain to every doubting soul the solution of all 
things." — Mrs. Muloch. 



MONDAY. 

The Voice of the Lord. — Psalm xxix. 



1 Give unto the LORI), O ye mighty, give 
unto the Lord glory and strength. 

2 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his 
name ; worship the Lord in the beauty of holi- 
ness. 

3 The voice of the Lord h upon the waters : 
the God of glory thundereth : the Lord is upon 
many waters. 



4 The voice of the Lord is powerful ; the 
voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 

5 The voice of the LoRDbreaketh the cedars; 
yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 

6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; 
Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. 

7 The voice of the LoRU divideth the flames 
of fire. 



82 



SIXTH WEEK. 



8 The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilder- | lo The I^ord sittefh upon the flood; yea, 
ness ; the Lord shal<eth the wilderness of llie Lord sitteth King for ever. 

Kadesh. 1 1 The Lord will give strength unto his peo- 

9 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds pie; the Lord will bless his people with peace, 
to calve, and discovereth the forests : and in his 

temple doth every one speak of his glory. 

In this Psalm the strength of Jehovah is celebrated ; and the exemplifica- 
tion of it is evidently taken from a thunder-stortTi. The Psalm seems to be 
addressed to the angels. 

" Just as the eighth Psalm is to be read by moonlight, when the stars are 
bright, as the nineteenth needs the rays of the rising sun to bring out its 
beauty, so this can be best rehearsed beneath the black wing of tempest, by 
the glare of the lightning, or amid that dubious dusk which heralds the war 
of elements. The verses march to the tune of thunderbolts. God is every- 
where conspicuous, and all the earth is hushed by the majesty of His pres- 
ence." — C. H. Spurgcon. 

In the eleventh verse this Almighty power of the Lord is promised to be 
the strength of the chosen. " Why are we weak when we have Divine 
strength to flee to ? why are we troubled when the Lord's own peace is 
ours ? Jesus the mighty God is our peace — what a blessing is this to-day ! 
what a blessing it will be to us in that day of the Lord which will be in 
darkness and not light to the ungodly! " — C. H. Spurgcon. 

Closet Promise. — Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that 
the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth 
not, neither is weary ? — Isa. xl. 2S. 

When you have some beloved being beside you, does it suffice you to 
think of him, not to speak to him — why, would not that be a torture ? 
Every time an idea occurs to you, a feeling overflows, you speak. Ah, if 
the fear of wearying did not restrain us, how far more freely would our 
heart give itself expression ! 

One can never weary God. What is it I say to Him? What does one 
say to one's father and to one's mother ? What does one not say ? Is any 
eloquence required ? All fear oyer, embarrassment gone, the lips move as 
the heart prompts, and the mother is satisfied, the father rejoices. — Madame 
de Gasparin. 

TUESDAY. 
An Overflowing Blessing. — Mai. iii. 8-18. 



8 If Will a man rob God? Yet ye have 
robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we 
robbed thee ? In tithes and offerings. 

9 Ye are cursed with a curse : for ye have 
robbed me, even this whole nation. 



10 Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, 
that there may be meat in mine house, and 
prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, 
if I will not open you the windows of heaven, 



TUESDAY. 



83 



and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not 
he room enough to receive it. 

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your 
sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your 
ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit 
before the time in the field, sailh the Lord of 
hosts. 

12 And all nations shall call you blessed : for 
ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord 
of hosts. 

13 \ Your words have been stout against me, 
saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we 
spoken so rmich against ihee ? 

14 Ye have said. It is vain to serve God : and 
what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, 
and that we have walked mournfully before the 
Lord of hosts? 



15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, 
they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they 
that tempt God are even delivered. 

16 % Then they that feared the Lord spake 
often one to another : and the Lord hearkened, 
and heard it, and a book of remembrance was 
written before him for them that feared the Lord, 
and that thought upon his name. 

17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord 
of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels ; 
and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own 
son that serveth him. 

18 Then shall ye return, and discern between 
the righteous and the wicked, between him that 
serveth God and him that serveth him not. 



Such robberies as those, for which God so terribly arraigned His people 
in Malachi's day, are every day practiced upon the great, loving, patient 
God, by His creatures, too often by His children. No earthly father has so 
clear a right to the love and service of his child, as God has to the supreme 
love and service of every soul of man. And to refuse it is an insult, an 
outrage, an infinite wrong to the ever-blessed God. 

He asks of every one of us first-fruits ami tithes. And He pledges Him- 
self in a way in which they themselves can verify. " If you will obey, I will 
supply all your needs ; if not, I will continue your death." 

Not room enough in our hearts ! If the whole world were unloaded into 
them there would be as much etnpty room left as there is about the globe 
in space. But God promises an over-fulness. What are some of the empty 
places in the soul which He fills ? I. Sense oi poverty. " God will not try 
to stop the leak in the heart by pouring gold dollars through it, but will 
give the spirit of adoption which imparts enjoyment of all the works of our 
Father in heaven." 2. Sense of bereavement. God fills this with assurance 
of immortal reunions. 3. Sense of sin. " If sin abound, grace doth much 
more abound. 4. Sense of uselessness in purpose. Charles Wesley could 
not get up enough .spirit to speak for Christ ; but when the Spirit was given 
he cried, " O, for a thousand tongues to sing! " 5. Sense of little service 
even with the best intentions. Consecration infinitizes one's life. God 
makes a Christian useful beyond his ability, his planning and his knowledge. 



Closet Promise. — Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abun- 
dantly above all that we a.sk or think, according to the power that worketh 
in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, 
world without end. Amen. — Ephes. iii. 20, 21. 



84 



SIXTH WEEK. 



Dr. Guthrie says: "Give me these links: First, sense of need; second, 
desire to get; third, belief that God has in store ; fourth, belief that, though 
He withhold for a while, He loves to be asked ; and, fifth, belief that ask- 
ing will obtain — give me these links, and the chain will reach from earth 
to heaven, bringing heaven all down to me, or bearing me up into heaven." 

Reader, get hold of this chain and you will prove these great verities of 
our holy Christianity. 

WEDNESDAY. 



A Great Calm. — Mark iv. 35-41 



35 And the same day, when the even was 
come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto 
the other side. 

36 And when they had sent away the multi- 
tude, they took him even as he was in the 
ship. And there were also with him other 
little ships. 

37 And there arose a great storm of wind, 
and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was 
now full. 

38 And he was in the hinder part of the 



ship, asleep on a pillow : and they awake him, 
and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that 
we perish ? 

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and 
said unto the sea. Peace, be still. And the 
wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 

40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so 
fearful ? how is it that ye have no faith ? 

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said 
one to another. What manner of man is this, 
that even the v/ind and the sea obey him? 



This storm arose while the disciples were following their Master. Christ 
commanded them to pass over to the other side of the sea. The way of 
obedience leads through many a scene of boisterous trouble. So it is on 
the sea of life. Storms in the voyage — even when sailing according to the 
Master's orders. 

" If storms and darkness come, remember that there is a Christ in every 
ship that sails the Lake of Gennesaret. We have a Christ in our ship ; and 
when He seems to be asleep, and fears begin to rise, speak to Him, and 
He will take coinmand not only of the ship, but of the troubled sea, and of 
the angry waves, and there shall be a calm." — H. W. Beecher. 

" What a calm there was on the Lake of Gennesaret when Jesus uttered 
the omnific word, 'Be still !' The stormy winds were hushed and the rest- 
less waves sank to rest. So when Jesus speaks with almighty energy to a 
disquieted, tempest-tossed soul, there is an inward calm that is indescribable." 
— Guide to Holiness. 



Closet Promise, — He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves 
thereof are still. — Psalm cvii. 29. 

" The storms of the sea touch but its surface. Beneath the waves that 
wreck the strongest ships there is a depth where the soft-flowered mollusc 
palpitates, and the delicate shell and tinted sea-blossoms float in perfect 



THURSDAY. 



85 



repose. Time is the surface of the ocean, eternity the depth ; and even now 
eternity may begin in the soul amid the tempests of time. Letting the 
anchor down into it gives a share in its calm." — Rev. J. Ker. 



THURSDAY. 

Hypocrisy. — Acts v. i-ii. 



1 But a certain man named Ananias, with 
Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 

2 And kept back part of the price, his wife 
also being piivy to it, and brought a certain 
part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan 
filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, 
and to keep back part of the price of the 
land? 

4 While it remained, was is not thine own ? 
and after it was sold, was it not in thine own 
power? why hast thou conceived this thing in 
thine heart ? thou hast not lied unto men, but 
unto God. 

5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, 
and gave up the ghost : and great fear came on 
all them that heard these things. 

6 And the young men arose, wound him up, 
and carried him out, and buried him. 



7 And it was about the space of three hours 
after, when his wife, not knowing what was 
done, came in. 

8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me 
whether ye sold the land for so much ? And 
she said, Yea, for so much. 

9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye 
have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the 
Lord ? behold, the feet of them which have 
buried thy husband a7-e at the door, and shall 
carry thee out. 

10 Then fell she down straightway at his 
feet, and yielded up the ghost : and the young 
men came in, and found her dead, and, carry- 
ing her forth, buried hsr by her husband. 

1 1 And great fear came upon all the church, 
and upon as many as heard these things. 



The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was hypocrisy. There were three base 
elements of which it was composed : 

1. Vanity. — They unduly loved applause. "The discipks had adopted 
the principle of having all things in common. There was nothing compul- 
sory in the arrangement, but the love that burned in their hearts made the 
practice general. Ananias and Sapphira, without any heart-sympathy with 
this system, professed to adopt it, because it was popular. They hoped to 
purchase to themselves the good opinion of the church." 

2. Covetousness. — They unduly loved their money. Had they been vain 
only, they would have kept back no part of the price; had they been 
covetous only, they would have given none of it. It was the union of their 
vanity and covetousness that produced their crime. 

3. Falsehood. — " Out of the conflict of vanity with covetousness came 
forth a lie. For a falsehood may be acted. We do not read here that 
Ananias expressl}^ said that the sum he brought was the whole price of his 
land. The question was distinctly put to his wife, and she answered it by 
an express falsehood. But Ananias would seem to have brought a certain 
amount, and laid it at the apostles' feet, letting it be understood that he was 
giving the whole price received for his land." — R. R. Meredith, D. D. 

God's punishment upon these two persons was fearful indeed. In both 
cases the stroke was struck by an unseen hand. There never has been a 



86 



SIXTH WEEK. 



time from that day to this in which the church has not needed the lesson. 
We need it to-day. Men still render to God a divided worship ; desire to 
seem better than they are. 

Closet Promise.— He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it?— 
Prov. xxiv. 12. 

A prayer against Evil Thoughts : 

" O Lord, my God, be not Thou far from me ; my God, haste Thee to 
help me ; for there have risen up against me sundry thoughts, and great 
fears, afflicting my soul. How shall I pass through unhurt ? how shall I 
break them to pieces? ' I, saith He, will go before thee and will humble 
the great ones of the earth; I will open the doors of the prison, and reveal 
unto thee hidden secrets.' Do, O Lord, as Thou sayest, and let all evil 
thoughts fly from before Thy face. This is my hope, my one only consola- 
tion, to flee unto Thee in every tribulation, to trust in Thee, to call upon 
Thee from my inmost heart, and to wait patiently for Thy consolation." — 
Thomas A Kempis. 

FRIDAY. 



Complainings. — Num. xi. 1-9. 



1 And 'when the people complained, it dis- 
pleased the Lord : and the Lord heard it ; and 
his anger was kindled ; and the fire of the Lord 
burnt among them, and consumed them that 
were in the uttermost parts of the camp. 

2 And the people cried unto Moses ; and 
when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was 
quenched. 

3 And he called the name of the place Tab- 
erah : because the fire of the Lord burnt among 
them. 

4 And the mixed multitude that was among 
them fell a lusting : and the children of Israel 
also wept again, and said, Who shall give us 
flesh to eat ? 



5 We remember the fish, which we did eat 
in Egypt freely ; the cucumbers, and the melons, 
and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic : 

6 But now our soul is dried away : there is 
nothing at all, besides this manna, before our 
eyes. 

7 And the manna was as coriander seed, and 
the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. 

8 Afid the people went about, and gathered 
it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, 
and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it : and 
the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. 

9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in 
the night, the manna fell upon it. 



Almost as soon as their journey began the evil heart of unbelief showed 
itself, and the people " complained ; " and, seduced by the mixed multitude 
who accompanied them, they began to look back longingly to Egypt. The 
soul that begins by cotnplaining, soon ends by something worse. It loses 
its relish for heavenly food, and looks back with longing to that which the 
world gives. And the end is sadly typified in the closing verses of this 
chapter (vers. 33, 34). " He gave them their request; but sent leanness into 
their soul." — Psalm cvi. 15. 

" The devil has many ways into the soul. The recollection of evil may 



^r^^^ 



THE YOUNG SAVIOUR IN THE TEMPLE. 

And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.- 

Luke ii. 47. 

S7 



FRIDAY. 87 

prompt a desire for its repetition We live a very delicate life. We 

are not far from the enemy at any one point in our historj^ The sight of a 
face may awaken within us influences which we had supposed to be dead ; 
the resonance of an old song may bring back the memory of black nights 
consecrated to the service of the devil with a will. We must not be harsh 
upon those who remember the pleasant side of Egyptian life, flv may now 
think of the old days with some pleasure : — how free the riotous dance was ; 
how eager our appetite at the feast ; how we relished the ardent poison ; how 
we enjoyed the exchange of passionate looks and words! And if a longing 
sometimes steals in upon the heart, putting back its prayer and threatening 
its overthrow, .... it is a temptation of the evil one, and is only to be put 
down by nobler prayer, by a sharper, keener cry for omnipotent defence." — 
Joseph Parker, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — Wait on the Lord ; be of good courage, and He shall 
strengthen thy heart. — Psalm xxvii. 14. 

We may have hours of unrest, hours of dull spiritual apprehension. The 
danger is that these hours may lengthen into weeks or months of spiritual 
apathy, and end at last in a condition of total darkness. In such hours-, O 
my soul ! wait thou I Weary hours or days of sickness may have been our 
portion. Now, when stillness reigns all about; when the prospect of speedy 
recovery to health may seem discouraging; when through the weariness of 
the flesh prayer can be only an unuttered desire or feeble sigh, my soul, 
wait thou ! It is good thus to wait upon God and trustingly wait for Him, 
He cannot disappoint us in such a time. Let the soul, therefore, in the 
night watches cease not to enjoin upon itself — waiting. 

But there are heart-sicknesses known to earth more real and distressing 
than any physical malady. Times there are in each human life when the 
sharp sword pierces to the very centre of the soul. Speaking after the man- 
ner of this world, the agony seems greater than can be borne. What then ? 
Shall we then sink down into despair, or shall we take refuge then in a self- 
constructed stoicism ? No. There is a better way. Summon thy soul, 
brother man, to new courage. Say to thy soul within the thick shadows, 
even where no light enters, " My soul, wait thou only upon God." — Selected,. 

SATURDAY. 

Comfort for the Desponding. — Psalm Ixxvii. 

1 I cried unto God with my voice, even unlo i my sore ran in the night, and ceased not : my 
God with my voice ; and he gave ear unto me. soul refused to be comforted. 

2 In the day of my trouljK-; I sought the Lord : 1 3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I 



88 



SIXTH WEEK 



complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. 
Selah. 

4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so 
troubled that I cannot speak. 

5 I have considered the days of old, the years 
of ancient times. 

6 I call to remembrance my song in the night : 
I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit 
made diligent search. 

7 Will the Lord cast off for ever ? and will 
he be favourable no more ? 

8 Is his mercy clean gone forever? doth-Ziis 
promise fail for evermore? 

9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath 
he in anger shut up his tender mercies ? Selah. 

10 And I said, This is my infirmity : 6?^^ I 
will remeviber the years of the right hand of the 
Most High. 

1 1 I will remember the works of the Lord : 
surely I will remember thy wonders of old. 

12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and 
talk of thy doings. 



13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary : who 
is so great a God as our God ? 

14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: 
thou hast declared thy strength among the peo- 
ple. 

15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy 
people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. 

16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters 
saw thee ; they were afraid : the depths also 
were troubled. 

17 The clouds poured out water: the skies 
sent out a sound : thine arrows also went 
abroad. 

18 The voice of thy thunder was in the 
heaven : the lightnings lightened the world : the 
earth trembled and shook. 

19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the 
great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. 

20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by 
the hand of Moses and Aaron. 



This Psalm has much sadness in it, but we may be sure it will end well, 
for it begins with prayer, and prayer never has an ill issue. In this case the 
importunity prevailed. " The gate opened to the steady knock. It shall 
be so with us in our hour of trial, the God of grace will hear us in due 
season." 

" In Psalm Seventy-three the soul looks out, and reasons on what it 
sees there ; namely, successful wickedness and suffering righteousness. 
What is the conclusion ? ' I have cleansed my heart in vain.' So much 
for looking about. In Psalm Seventy-seven the soul looks in, and reasons 
on what it finds there. What is the conclusion ? ' Hath God forgotten to 
be gracious?' So much for looking in. Where, then, should we look? 
Look up, straight up, and believe what you see there. What will be the 
conclusion? You will understand the 'end' of man, and trace the 'way' 
of God." — From "Tilings New and Old!' 

" There are seasons when even the holiest faith cannot bear to listen to 
Avords of reasoning ; though it can still find a support whereon to rest, in 
the simple contemplation, in all their native grandeur, of the deeds that God 
hath wrought." — Joseph F. Thrupp. 

Closet Promise. — Fear thou not ; for I am with thee : be not dismayed ; 
for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I 
will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. — Isa. xli. lO. 



The following beautiful poem was written on the text found in Ruth i. 13, 
The hand of the Lord is cone out against me : " 



SATURDAY. 



89 



The hand of God against thee ? No ; 

O, say not, Christian, this is so. 

To stay thy doubts when winds are rough, 

The past survey; 'tis sure enough. 

'Tis He who led thee all along, 

'Tis He who filled thy mouth with song. 

His kindness gleams in all thy way ; 

The hand of God against thee ? Nay. 

Because the hour is dark with gloom, 
Is that fair reason to assume 
That He in anger turns away 
From thee He loved but yesterday ? 
The treasure thou mayst not obtain 
Doth He withhold for greater gain; 
His love is just as strong in woe 
As when the fount of joy doth flow. 



If thou couldst only understand, 
Against thee never is His hand; 
The winds and storms. He gives them force 
To drive thee homeward in their course ; 
If sun and mildness blend all day. 
They might becalm thee on thy way; 
Thy vessel tossed upon the tide, 
Has .still a pilot, port, and guide. 

His chastisements are sure no sign 
That He's forgot His love divine; 
Thine eyes with sorrow He makes dim, 
That thou mayst grope thy way to Him. 
In all His dealings thou mayst trace 
His love, His mercy, and His grace; 
If thou canst only understand, 
Against thee never is His hand. 

—Antia D. Walker. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast MottO< — Therefore with jo)' shall ye draw water out of the 
wells of salvation. — Isa. xii. 3. 

"Weekly Proverb. — By the street of " By-and-by," one arrives at the 
house of " Never." — Spanish. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SEVEN CAUTIONS. 

Sunday. — Beware Lest Ye Forget God. — Deut. vi. 1-12. 
Monday. — Beware Lest any Man Spoil You. — Col. ii. 1-8. 
Tuesday. — Beware of Evil Workers. — Col. iii. 1-3. 
Wednesday. — Beware of Being Led Away. — 2 Pet. iii. 1-18. 
Thursday. — Beware of Hypocrisj'. — Luke xii. 1-12. 
Friday. — Beware Lest that Come on You. — Acts xiii. 38-43. 
Saturday. — Beware of Covetousness. — Luke xii. 13-21. 



MARJORIE. 



■ Oh, dear," said Farmer Brown, one day, 
" I never saw such weather ! 
The rain will spoil my meadow-hay. 
And all my crops together." 

His little daughter climbed his knee ; 
" I guess the sun will shine," said she, 

' But if the sun," said Farmer Brown, 
" Should bring a dry September, 
With vines and stalks all wilted down, 
And fields scorched to an ember " — 
"Why, then 'twill rain," said Marjorie, 
The little girl upon his knee. 



' Ah, me " sighed Farmer Brown, that fall, 
" Now what's the use of living? 
No plan of mine succeeds at all " — 

" Why, next month comes Thanksgiving, 

And then, of course," said Marjorie, 
" We're all as happy as can be." 

' Well, what should I be thankful for ? " 
Asked Farmer Brown. " My trouble 
This summer has grown more and more. 
My losses have been double, 

I've nothing left" — "Why, you've got 

me ! " 
Said Marjorie, upon his knee. 

— From Wide-Awake. 



90 SIXTH WEEK. 

A lying tongue is but for a moment. — Prov. xii. 19. 

Who was the first person, of whom we knoAv, that ever told a lie ? Satan. 
He will be known forever as the first liar. This is the reason why the 
Bible calls him — " the father of lies." Now, dear children, to lie is to do 
Satan's work. It is one of the meanest of all things. Nothing will offend 
a respectable person so much as to call him a liar. A newsboy, to sell his 
papers, told a lie. The matter came up in Sunday-school. " Would you tell 
a lie for three cents ? " asked a teacher, of one of her boys. " No, ma'am," 
answered Dick, very decidedly. "For a dollar?" — " No, ma'am." — "For 
a thousand dollars ? " — Dick was staggered. A thousand dollars looked 
large. " Oh," thought he, "would it not buy lots of things ! " While thus 
he was meditating, another boy said : "No, ma'am." — "Why not?" asked 
the teacher. — " Because when the thousand dollars is all gone, and all tlie 
things I got with them are gone too, the lie — is there all the same" answered 
the boy. It is so. Everything else may be gone, but a lie stays by you. 
Then see what God says of liars : " There shall in no wise enter therein 
anything that maketh a lie!" No admittance for liars in heaven. Bear 
this in mind, when tempted to tell a lie. 



THE BOYHOOD OF CHRIST. 

There was once — as Luther tells us — a piouy, godly bishop who had 
often earnestly prayed that God would show him what Jesus was like in 
His youth. Now once the bislio;) had a dream, and in his dream he saw a 
poor carpenter working at his trade, and beside him a little boy gathering 
up chips. Then came in a maiden clothed in green, who called them both 
to come to the meal, and set bread and milk before them. All this the 
bishop seemed to see in his dream, standing behind the door that he might 
not be seen. Then the little boy began and said, " Why does that man 
stand there? Will he not come in also, and eat with us?" And this so 
frightened the bishop that he awoke from the dream. But he need not have 
been frightened, for does not Jesus say, "If any man hear My voice, and 
open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me." 
And whether the dream be true or not, we know that Jesus in His child- 
hood and youth looked and acted like other children, " in fashion like a 
iriaii," " yet without sin." He grew from infancy to boyhood and manhood 
without a shadow of sin on his soul. Boys and girls, study this perfect 
cliar.ictcr, and inntate it as much as lies in your power. 




THE BOYHOOD OF CHRIST. 

And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto 

them. — Luke ii. 51. 

90 



SEVENTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — He that goeth forth and vveepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless 
come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. — Psalm cxxvi. 6. 



Oh ! what a glory doth this world put on 
For him who, with a fervent heart, goes forth 
Under the bright and glorious sky, and looks 
On duties well performed and days well spent? 
For him the wind, aye, and the yellow leaves 



Shall have a voice and give him eloquent teach- 
ings. 
He shall so hear the solemn hymn that death 
Has lifted up for all, that he shall go 
To his long resting-place vidthout a tear. 

— Henry IF. I.ongfiUow. 



It is they who glorify God who shall enjoy Him ; they who deny them- 
selves who shall not be denied; they who labor on earth who shall rest in 
heaven ; they who bear the cross who shall wear the crown ; they who 
seek to bless others who shall be blessed. — Dr. Gitthrie. 

We have little conception of the soul's joy, or of capacities of joy, till 
we see it established in God. The Christian soul is one that has come unto 
God, and rested in the peace of God. It dares to call Him Father, without 
any sense of daring. — Horace Bushnell. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 
SUNDAY. 

A Visit to Gethsemane.— Matt. xxvi. 36-56. 



36 \ Then cometh Jesus with them unto a 
place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the 
disciples. Sit ye here, while I go and pray 
yonder. 

37 And he took with him Peter and the two 
sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and 
very heavy. 

38 Then saith he unto them. My soul is ex- 
ceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye 
here, and watch with me. 

39 And he went a little further, and fell on 
his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it 
be possible, let this cup pass from me : never- 
theless, not as I will, but as thou 'tuilt. 

40 And he Cometh unto the disciples, and 
findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, 
could ye not watch with me one hour ? 

41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into 
temptation : the spirit indeed is willing, but the 
flesh is weak. 

42 He went away again the second time, and 
prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may 
not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy 
will be done. 

43 And he came and found them asleep 
again : for their eyes were heavy. 



44 And he left them, and went away again, 
and prayed the bird time, saying the same 
words. 

45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and 
saith unto them. Sleep on now, and take your 
rest : behold, ihe hour is at hand, and the Son 
of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 

46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at 
hand that doth betray me. 

47 ^ And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one 
of the twelve, came, and with him a great 
multitude with swords and staves, from the 
chief priests and elders of the people. 

48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a 
sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same 
is he ; hold him fast. 

49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, 
Hail, Master ; and kissed him. 

50 And Jesus said unto him. Friend, where- 
fore art thou come ? Then came they, and laid 
hands on Jesus, and took him. 

51 And, behold one of them which were 
with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew 
his sword, and struck a servant of the high 
priest, and smote off his ear. 

52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again 

(91) 



92 



SEVENTH WEEK. 



thy sword into his place : for all they that take 
the sword shall perish with the sword. 

53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to 
my Father, and he shall presently give me more 
than twelve legions of angels ? 

54 But how then s'.iall the Scrptures be ful- 
filled, that thus it must be ? 

55 In that same hour said Jesus to the mul- 



titudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with 
swords and staves for to take me ? I sat daily 
with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no 
hold on me. 

56 But all this was done, that the Scriptures 
of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the 
disciples forsook him, and fled. 



" ' My will, not thine, bed one,' turned Paradise into a desert. ' Thy will, 
not mine be done,' turned the desert into Paradise, and made Gethsemane 
the gate of heaven." — E. de Pressense, D. D. 

" I know no duty in religion more generally agreed on, nor more justly 
required by God Almighty, than a perfect submission to His will in all 
things ; nor do I think any disposition of mind can either please Him more, 
or become us better, than that of being satisfied with all He gives, and 
contented with all He takes away. None, I am sure, can be of more honor 
to God, nor of more ease to ourselves. For if we consider Him as our 
Maker, we cannot contend with Him; if as our Father, we ought not to 
distrust Him ; so that we may be confident, whatever He does is intended 
for our good ; and whatever happens that we interpret otherwise, yet we 
can get nothing by repining, nor save anything by resisting." — Sir Wm. 
Temple. 

" Proud dust is apt to fly in God's face upon every motion of the afflict- 
ing passions ; and by the resistance of self-will He is provoked to more 
severity." — W. Bates. 

" The historian tells of a clear vein of water that springs from Mongibel, 
that great furnace, that always sends forth smoke or flames, yet is as cool- as 
if it distilled from a snowy mountain. Thus the saints in the fiery trial 
have been often refreshed with Divine comforts, and such humble sub- 
missions and gracious thanksgivings have proceeded from their lips, as have 
been very comfortable to those about them." — W. Bates. 

Closet Promise. — And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that 
if we ask anything according to His will. He heareth us. — I John v, 14. 



" Not as I will " — the sound grows sweet 
Each time my lips the words repeat, 
" Not as I will ! " The darkness feels 
More snfe than light when this thought steals 
Like whispered voice to calm and bless 
All unrest and all loneliness. 



" Not as I will," because the One 
Who loved us first and best has gone 
Before us on the road, and still 
For us must all His love fulfill, 
" Not as we will." 

— Helen Hunt Jackson, 



SEVENTH WEEK, 



93 



MONDAY. 



Divine Fellowship. 



John 



1 That which was from the beginning, which 
we have heard, which we have seen with our 
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our 
hands have handled, of the Word of life ; 

2 (For the life was manifested, and we have 
seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you 
that eternal life, which was with the Father, and 
was manifested unto us ;) 

3 That which we have seen and heard declare 
we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship 
with us : and truly our fellowship is with the 
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 

4 And these things write we unto you, that 
your joy may be full. 

5 This then is the message which we have 



heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is 
light, and in him is no darkness at all. 

6 If we say tha* we have fellowship with him, 
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the 
truth : 

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the 
light, we have fellowship one with another, and 
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us 
from all sin. 

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive 
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and 
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us 
from all unrighteousness. 

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we 
make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 



"After the word God, there is no word that includes so. much as ' fellow- 
ship.' It enfolds within itself our recovery from sin, the beginning of 
spiritual life, conformity to the image of Christ, brotherhood with all be- 
lievers, the affection and confidence of a pure Divine love, and the eternities 
of heavenly communion. This is the wideness of its possibilities." — Rev., 
jfolm Parker. 

In this chapter two things are taught us: i. The beginning o{ 'Ccn?, fellow- 
ship is attributed to our reception of the truth concerning Jesus (verses 1-4). 
2. The continuance of this fellowship is the result of a holy life (verses 
5-lo). 

"A soul washed in the blood of Jesus Christ has very delicate perceptions. 
The light which has risen in her shows her the smallest du.st-particle of sin 
and the most subtle motions of the flesh, and makes her perceive whatever 
accords with her happy frame in gladsome converse with God and the 
Saviour, and whatever disturbs it." — Stcinhofer. 

Closet Promise. — Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all 
places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I 
will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." 
— Gen. xxviii. 15. 



Oh, blessed fellowship divine ! 
Oh, joy supremely sweet I 
Companionship with Jesus here 
Makes life with bliss replete : — 
In union with the Purest One, 
I find my heaven on earth begun. 

Oh, wondrous bliss, oh, joy sublime, 
I've Jesus with me all the time ! 



I'm walking close to Jesus' side. 

So close that I can hear 

The softest whispers of His love. 

In fellowship so dear, 

And feel His great almighty hand 

Protect me in this hostile land. 

Oh, wondrous bliss, oh, joy sublime, 
I've Je:.us with me all the time! 



94 



vSEVENTH WEEK, 



I'm leaning on His loving breast, 

Along life's weary way, 

My palii, illumined by His smile, 

Grows brighter day by day; 

No woes, no foes, my heart can fear, 

With my .Vlmighty Friend so near. 

Oh, wondrous bliss, oh, joy sublime, 
I've Jesus with me all the time ! 



I know His slieltering wings of love 

Are always o'er me spread ; 

And though the storms may fiercely rage — 

All calm, and free from dread — 

My peaceful spirit ever sings, 

" I'll trust the covert of His wings." 

Oh, wondrous bliss, oh, joy sublime, 
I've Jesus with me all the time ! 

— Mrs. JlJaiy D. James. 



TUESDAY. 

'The Morning Hymn." — Psalm iii. 



1 Lord, how are they increased that trouble 
me ! many me they that rise up against me. 

2 Many t/i, re be which say of my soul, 1 here 
is no help for him in God. Selah. 

3 But thoii, O Lord, art a shield for me ; my 
glory, and the lifter up of mine head. 

4 I cried uiUo the L'JRD with my voice, and 
he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. 

5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for 
the Lord sustained me. 



6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of 
people, that have set themselves against me round 
about. 

7 Arise, O Lord ; save me, O my God : for 
thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the 
cheek bone ; thou hast broken the teeth of the 
ungodly. 

8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord : thy 
blessing is upon thy people. Selah. 



This is "A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his Son." " You 
will remember the sad story of David's flight from his own palace, when, in 
the dead of the night, he forded the brook Kedron, and went with a few 
faithful followers to hide himself for awhile from the fury of his rebellious 
^on. Remember that David in thfs was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
He, too, fled ; he, too, passed over the brook Kedron when his own people 
were in rebellion against him, and with a feeble band of followers he went to 
the garden of Gethsemane. He, too, drank of the brook by the way, and 
therefore doth he lift up the head. By very many expositors this is entitled 
The Morning Hymn. May we ever wake with holy confidence in our 
hearts, and a song on our lips ! " — C. H. Spnrgcon. 

This Psalm may be divided into four parts: I. David makes a complaint 
to God concerning his enemies (verses i, 2). 2. He then declares his con- 
fidence in the Lord (verses 3, 4). 3. Sings of his safety in sleep (verses 5, 
6). 4. And strengthens himself for future conflict (verses 7, 8). 

Gurnall, who wrote when there were houses on old London Bridge, has 
quaintly said, " Do you not think that they sleep as soundly who dwell on 
London Bridge as they who live at Whitehall or Cheapside ? for they know 
that the waves which rush under them cannot hurt them. Even so may the 
saints rest quietly over the floods of trouble or death, and fear no ill." 

'A good conscience can sleep on the mouth of a cannon ; grace is a Chris- 
tian's coat of mail, which fears not the arrow or bullet. True grace may be 
shot at, but can never be shot through ; grace puts tlie soul into Christ, and 



TUESDAY. 95 

there it is safe, as the bee in the hive, as the dove in the ark." — Thomas 
Watson. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord, He it is that doth go before thee ; He will 
be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee. — Deut. xxxi. 8. 

" What Thou shalt to-day provide, I Calmly to Thy wisdom leave. 

Let me as a child receive; 'Tis enough that Thou wilt care; 

What to-morrow may betide I Why should I the burden bear ? " 

WEDNESDAY. 

" The Evening Hvmn."— Psalm iv. 

I Hear me when I call, O God of my right- I 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and 
eousness : thou hast enlarged me when I ^mis 



in distress ; have mercy upon me, and hear my 
prayer. 

2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn 
my glory into shame ? how long will ye love 
vanity, and seek after leasing ? Selah. 

3 But know that the Lord hath set apart 
him that is godly for himself : the Lord will 
hear when I call unto him. 

4 Stand in awe, and sin not : commune with 
your own heart upon your bed, and be still. 
Selah. 



put your trust in the Lord. 

6 77iere be many that say, Who will shew us 
any good ? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy 
countenance upon us. 

7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more 
than in the time thai their corn and their wine 
increased. 

8 I will both lay me down in peace, and 
sleep : for thou. Lord, only makest me dwell in 
safety. 



" This Psalin is apparently intended to accompany the third, and make a 
pair with it. . . . It was probably written upon the same occasion as the 
preceding, and is another choice flo\ver from the garden of affliction. 
Happy is it for us that David was tried, or probably we should never have 
heard these sweet sonnets of faith." — C. H. Sptirgeon. 

May the choice words of the eighth verse be our sweet song of rest as we 
retire to our repose ! This verse has been called " The Christian's good- 
night." Another has said of it : 'A bed-chamber for believers, a vesper 
song to sing in it, and a guard to keep the door." God is here revealed to 
us as Q-x.Q\-c\'s,mg persofial care in the still chamber. 

" I shall not sit up to watch through fear, but I will lie down ; and then I 
will not lie awake listening to every rustling sound, but I will lie down in peace 
and sleep, for I have nought to fear. He that hath the wings of God above him 
needs no other curtain. Better than bolts or bars is the protection of the 
Lord." — C. H. Spurge on. 

Closet Promise. — My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and 
in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. — Isa. xxxii. 18. 

A little rest in the twilight 1 A little time with the Master 

After my work is done, | At setting of the sun. 



SEVENTH WEEK. 



The day has been one of trial, 
Of failure oft and tears ; 

But Jesus Icnows all my weakness, 
He knows my doubls and fears. 

All sordid thoughts I can banish. 

And let my spirit fly 
Above the eartli and its sorrow 

To God's white throne on high. 

The door of a place of refuge, 
A place of quiet rest 



Is near, and my soul is longing 
To find that portal blest. 

I come with my heavy burdens, 

I come with all my sin, 
I knock and the door swings open, 

And Jesus lets me in. 

My sin departs, and my trouble 

Is lost in blissful calm. 
This quiet hour with my Saviour 

Has soothed my heart like balm. 

— Eliza H. Morion. 



THURSDAY. 

The Spies sent into Canaan. — Numb. xiii. 1-3; 17-33. 



1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 

2 Send thou men, that they may search the 
land of Canaan, which I give unto the children 
of Israel : of every tribe of their fathers shall 
ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 

3 And Moses by the commandment of the 
LoKD sent them from the wilderness of Paran : 
all those men 7vere heads of the children of 
Israel. 



17 ^ And Moses sent them to spy out the land 
of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this 
way southward, and go up into the mountain : 

18 And see the land, what it is; and the 
people that dwelleth therein, whether they be 
strong or weak, few or many ; 

19 And what the land is that they dwell in, 
whether it be good or bad ; and what cities /hey 
be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in 
strong holds ; 

20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or 
lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. 
And be ye of good courage, and bring of the 
fruit of the land. Now the time was the time 
of the first ripe grapes. 

21 So they went up, and searched the land 
from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men 
come to Hamath. 

22 And they ascended by the south, and came 
unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and 
Tahnai, the children of Anak, were. Now 
Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in 

Egypt. 

23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, 
and cut down from thence a branch with one 
cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two 
upon a staff; and they brought of the pome- 
granates, and of the ilgs. 

24 The place was called the brook Eshcol, 



because of the cluster of grapes which the 
children of Israel cut down from thence. 

25 \ And they returned from searching of 
the land after forty days. 

26 And they went and came to Moses, and 
to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the 
children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, 
to Kadesh ; and brought back word unto them, 
and unto all the congregation, and shewed them 
the fruit of the land. 

27 And they told him, and said, We came 
unto the land whither thou sentest us, and 
surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this 
is the fruit of it. 

28 Nevertheless the people be strong that 
dwell in the land, and the cities ^/c walled, and 
very great: and moreover we saw the children 
of Anak there. 

29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the 
south : and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and 
the Amorites, dwell in the mountains : and the 
Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast 
of Jordan. 

30 And Caleb stilled the people before Mo- 
ses, and said. Let us go up at once, and possess 
it ; for we are well able to overcome it. 

31 But the men chat went up with him said. 
We be not able to go up against the people ; for 
they a7-e stronger than we. 

32 And they brought up an evil report of 
the land which they had searched unto the 
children of Israel, saying, The land, through 
which we have gone to search it, is a land that 
eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the 
people that we saw in it, are men of a great 
stature. 

33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of 
Anak, which cotne of the giants : and we were 
in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we 
were in their sight. 



There i.s an apparent difficulty here, in the fact that the spies who brought 
back sucli an evil report were sent forth at the Lord's command. In order 



THURSDAY, 



97 



to understand this, we nuu^t refer to Dent. i. 20-35. From tliis it will be 
seen that the plan to send up spies did not originate with the Lord, but with 
the people themselves. It is true that, subsequently, the Lord accepted 
them in this matter, and gave commandment according to their wish. Never- 
theless, the plan of sending out a " committee of investigation" had its root 
in unbelief. They were not ready to take God at His word, but they must 
spy out the land and look it over for themselves ; the report of the spies would 
be more satisfactory to them than the report God had given. They leaned 
unto their own understanding, and were brought to confusion. 

Is it not so with us? God has marked out the way of life for us; He 
has told us " to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness," and 
promised that all things shall be added. Yet we are not willing to trust 
God, so we take life into our own hands ; first add these things, and then 
seek the kingdom of God. It is so in other matters. We are guided by 
our wisdom rather than God's word, and usually find that our wisdom is 
foolishness, and the " foolishness of God " which we set aside was true 
wisdom. 

" The New Testament tells us that the cause of this sad failure of the 
Israelites was unbelief (Heb. iii. 15-19; iv. l-io). It was not their own 
weakness nor the strength of their enemies that hindered their entrance. 
They were, it is true, ' grasshoppers,' and their enemies were ' giants,' and it 
was indeed manifest that they were not able to overcome. Biit the Loi'd 
was able!' No doubt these two parties — the unbelieving and the believing 
—each found what in their hearts they were looking for when they started 
out. We always see things from our own stand-point. The empty bucket 
says : " No matter how full I come up, I always go down empty." This 
is U7ibelicf. The full bucket says : " No matter how empty I go down, I 
always come up full." This \s faith. 



Closet Promise. — He faileth not. — Zeph 



5- 



He who hath led, will lead 

All through the wilderness; 
He who hath fed, will feed ; 

He who hath blessed, will bless; 
He who hath heard thy cry, 

Will never close His ear ; 
He who hath marked thy faintest sigh, 

Will not forget thy tear. 
He loveth always, faileth never ; 
So rest on Him, to-day, forever! 



Then trust Him for to-day 

As thine unfailing Friend, 
And let Him lead thee all the way, 

Who loveth to the end. 
And let the morrow rest 
In His beloved hand; 
His good is better than our best, 
As we shall understand— 
If, trusting Him who faileth never, 
We rest on Him, to-day, forever ! 

— F. R. Havergal. 



98 



SEVENTH WEEK. 



FRIDAY. 

My Servant Caleb." — Numb. xiv. 1-25. 



1 And all the congregation lifted up their 
voice, and cried; and the people wept that 
night. 

2 And all the children of Israel murmured 
against Moses and against Aaron : and the 
whole congregation said unto them. Would God 
that we had died in the land of Egypt ! or would 
God we had died in this wilderness ! 

3 And wherefore hath ihe Lord brought us 
unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our 
wives and our children should be a prey? were 
it not better for us to return into Egypt ? 

4 And they said one to another, Let us make 
a captain, and let us retuin into Egypt. 

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces 
before all the assembly of the congregation of 
the children of Israel. 

6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the 
son of Jephunneh, luhich were of them that 
searched the land, rent their clothes: 

7 And they spake unto all the company of the 
children of Israel, saying. The land, which we 
passed through to search it, is an exceeding 
good land. 

8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will 
Taring us into this land, and give it us ; a land 
which floweth with milk and honey. 

9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither 
fear ye the people of the land ; for they a7-e 
bread for us : their defence is departed from 
them, and the Lord is with us : fear them not. 

ID But all the congregation bade stone them 
with stones. And the glory of the LORD ap- 
peared in the tabernacle of the congregation be- 
fore all the children of Israel. 

11 ][ And the Lord said unto Moses, How 
long will this people provoke me ? and how long 
will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs 
which I have shewed among them? 

12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and 
disinherit ihem, and will make of thee a greater 
nation and mightier than they. 

13 And Moses said unto the LoRD, Then the 
Egyptians shall hear it, for thou broughtest up 
this people in thy might from among them : 

14 And they will tell ii to the inhabitants of 



I this land : for they have heard that thou LoRD 
art among this people, that thou Lord art seen 
face to face, and (hat thy cloud standeth over 
them, and that thou goest before them, by day- 
time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire 
by night. • 

1 5 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as 
one man, then the nations which have heard the 
fame of thee will speak, saying, 

16 Because the Lord was not able to bring 
this people into the land which he sware unto 
them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilder- 
ness. 

17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power 
of my Loid be great, according as thou hast 
spoken, saying, 

18 The Lord is longsuffering, and of great 
mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and 
by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the 
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto 
the third and fourth generation. 

19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of 
this people according unto the greatness of thy 
mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, 
from Egypt even until now. 

20 And the Lord said, I have pardoned ac- 
cording to thy word : 

21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall 
be filled with the glory of the LORD. 

22 Because all those men which have seen my 
glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt 
and in the wilderness, and have tempted me 
now these ten times, and have not hearkened to 
my voice ; 

23 Surely they shall not see the land which I 
sware unto^ their fathers, neither shall any of 
them that provoked me see it : 

24 But my servant Caleb, because he had 
another spirit with him, and hath followed me 
fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto 
he went ; and his seed shall possess it. 

25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites 
dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, 
and get you into the wilderness by the way of 
the Red sea. 



How tender the loving recognition of Caleb's fidelity in verse 24. God 
had trusted him to perform a difficult task ; He now commends his faithful- 
ness. With a heart fully consecrated, and faith in God, Caleb could stand 
almost alone. 

" Was Caleb then a giant — larger than any of the sons of Anak ? Was 
he a Hercules and a Samson in one ? Was his arm so terrific that every 
stroke of it was a conquest? We are not told so; the one thing we are 



FRIDAY. 



99 



told about Caleb is that he was a man of ' another spirit.' That determines 
the quality of the man. Character is a question of spirit. It is an affair of 
inward and spiritual glow. Caleb had been upon the preliminary search ; 
Caleb had seen the walls, and the Anakim, and the fortresses, and he came 
back saying — we can do this, not because we have so many arms only or so 
many resources of a material kind — but because he was a man of ' another 
spirit.' " — Joseph Parker, D. D. 

Where is the aggressive spirit among Christians to-day? Is there no 
Caleb ? Is there no man of " another spirit " to say, Let us go up at once, 
when we are well able to overcome the enemy .? In whose strength ? In 
God's. By whose armor? God's. The battle is not yours, but God's. 
The one thing we have dropped out of our calculations is — Almightiness. 

Closet Promise. — It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give 
us. — Deut. i. 25. 



' Provided for God's children, 
The ' goodly land ' we see, 
To all the deed is offered, 
For every one 'tis free— 



Our heritage in Jesus — 
Let us bring our claim, 

And take this full salvation 
In our Redeemer's name ! ' 



SATURDAY. 

The False and the True. — Matt. vii. 15-29. 



15 ^Beware of false prophets, which Come 
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are 
ravening wolves. 

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do 
men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? 

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth 
good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth 
evil fruit. 

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, 
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 

19 Every tree that bringetli not forth good 
fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 

20 Wherefore by their fniits ye shall know 
them. 

21 ^ Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, 
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; 
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is 
in heaven. 

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, 
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ? 
and in thy name have cast out devils? and in 
thy name done many wonderful works? 

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never 



knew you : depart from me, ye that work in- 
iquity. 

24 1[ Therefore whosoever heareth thes^ say- 
ings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him 
unto a wise man, which built his house upon a 
rock: 

25 And the rain descended, and the floods 
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that 
house ; and it fell not : for it was founded upon 
a rock. 

26 And ever>' one that heareth these sayings 
of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened 
unto a foolish man, which built his house upon 
the sand : 

27 And the rain descended, and the floods 
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that 
house ; and it fell : and great was the fall of it. 

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had 
ended these sayings, the people were astonished 
at his doctrine ; 

29 For he taught them as one having au- 
thority, and not as the scribes. 



The Scriptures treat largely of the false — false gods, false doctrines, false 
Christs, and false hopes. In the reading for to-day, we have mentioned, 
I. A False Profession. It is evident that a person may have much which 



100 



SEVRNTH WEEK. 



bears the semblance of piety, while he is far from feeling its genuine in- 
fluence. But the religion of Christ is to be practised. It is a kingdom of 
fruit, not of thorns, not of leaves. The proof of sincerity is doing. 

" It is all very fine to plead, as some have done, that they are doing inside 
work ; if their fruit is all within, they will have to be cut down that it may 
be got at. A true epistle of Christ is not written in invisible ink, and then 
sealed up, but it is known and read of all men. A tree of the Lord's right- 
hand planting bears fruit to His glory, visible to all about him." — C. H. 
Spiirgeon. 

2. A True and a False Foundation. One built on solid deeds — the other 
on shifting and insecure feelings. The one made sure that he was right — 
the other " hoped " that he was. The one built with reference to the rising 
of the stream — the other on a " might not." How many foolish builders 
there are who "guess" it will be all right with them in the other world! 
And they so easily might know that it shall be. 



Closet Promise. 

hath it shall abide 
xix. 23. 



-The fear of the Lord tendeth to life : and he that 
satisfied ; he shall not be visited with evil. — Prov. 



The human heart asks love ; but now I 
know- 
That my heart hath from Thee 
All real, and full, and marvelous affection, 
So near, so human ! Yet Divine perfection 
Thrills gloriously the mighty glow ! 
Thy love is enough for me ! 



There were strange soul-depths, restless, vast 
and broad, 
Unfathomed as the sea ; 
An infinite craving for some infinite stilling ; 
But now Thy perfect love is perfect filling ! 
Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God, 
Thou, Thou art enough for me. 

— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



SEVENTH WEEK. 101 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — God is my portion forever. — Psa. Ixxiii. 26. 
Weekly Proverb. — Great talkers, little doers. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— GOD'S " FEAR NOTS." 

Sunday. — To Abraham. — Gen. xv. 1-2 1. 
Monday. — To Hagar. — Gen. xxi. 12-2 1. 
Tuesday. — To Isaac. — Gen. xxvi. 17-25. 
Wedyiesday. — To Jacob. — Gen. xlvi. 1-7. 
TJmrsday. — To Children of Israel. — Ex. xiv. I-14. 
Friday. — To Moses. — Num. xxi. 31-35. ■ 
Saturday. — To Gideon. — Judg. vi. 1 1-24. 

A PROBLEM IN THREES. 



If three little houses stood in a row 

With never a fence to divide. 
And if each little house had three little maids 

At play in the garden wide, 
And if each little maid had three little cats 

(Three times three times tliree), 
And if each little cat had three little kits, 

How many kits would there be ? 



And if each little maid had three little friends 

With whom she loved to play, 
And if each little friend had three little dolls 

In dresses and ribbons gay. 
And if friends and dolls and cats and kits 

Were all invited to tea. 
And if none of them all should send regrets, 

How many guests would there be ? 

— Eudora S. Bunistead in "Si. JVic/tolas." 



Be ye kind one to another. — Eph. iv. 32. 

I am going to let a little boy do the talking to-day. " Eddie," said 
Harry, " I'll be a minister, and preach you a sermon." — " Well," said Eddie ; 
" and I'll be the peoples." Harry began : " My text is a short and easy 
one : 'Be kind.' These are the heads of my sermon. First, Be kind to 
papa, and don't make a noise when he has a headache. I don't believe you 
know what a headache is ; but I do. I had one once, and didn't want to 
hear any one speak a word. Second, Be kind to mamma, and don't make 
her tell you to do a thing more than once. It is very tiresome to say, ' It 
is time for you to go to bed,' half a dozen times over. Third, Be kind to 
baby." — " You have leaved out be kind to Harry," interrupted Eddie. 
" Yes," said Harry : " I didn't mean to mention my own name in my sermon. 
I was saying. Be kind to little Minnie, and let her have your red soldier to 
play with when she wants it. Fourth, Be kind to Jane, and don't scream 
and kick when she washes and dresses you." Here Eddie looked a little 
ashamed, and said, " But she pulled my hair with the comb." — " People 
musn't talk in meeting," said Harry. "Isn't the sermon most done?" 
asked Eddie; and without waiting for Harry to finish, he began to sing; 
and so Harry had to stop. 



IN THE PASTURE. 

Be careful how you treat dumb creatures. I have seen boys catch flies 
and stick pins in them and impale them to a board or desk, or pull off their 
wings and legs. I have known boys to tease and worry cats, and finally 
stone them to death. I once heard of a boy who took a cat to the garret 
window of a house and threw it out to see if it would fall on its feet. Some 
boys carry " sling-shots " to shoot pebbles at the birds in the trees. Some- 
times a man overworks a horse in a cart ; the wheels get into a rut ; the 
horse is unable to pull such a load out ; but he cannot say so, and the man 
sets to beating him, not with a whip, but with a heavy stick. The horse 
cannot defend himself; he cannot even complain of his cruel treatment. 

Now let me give j^ou a good rule : Never Jmrt diunb animals. R.emember 
they are dumb ; they cannot speak ; they cannot complain of your conduct. 
Their very helplessness appeals to your humanity. Do not abuse them; 
do not hurt them ; and do not let others illtreat them. They are God's 
creatures. He made them all ; He cares for them all. Do like the lady 
and little boy in the picture — treat them kindly^ and they will not fear you. 
Remember the words of the poet Coleridge : 

" He prayeth well who loveth well 

Both man, and bird, and beast. 
He prayeth best who loveth best 

All tilings, both great and small; 
For the dear God who loveth us, 

He made and loveth all." 

(102) 




IN THE PASTURE. 
103 



EIGHTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Let your light so sliine before men, that they may see your good works, 
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. — Matt. v. 1 6. 



Dear Father, help Thy child 
To work 'ti'ith Thee, 

In all Thy plans and purposes ; 
And thus to be 



No hindrance, but a help; 

Th.it no " would not " 
May cross Thy great " I will," and thus 

Thy life-work blot. — Sel. 



I would give nothing for that man's reh'gion whose very dog and cat are 
not better for it. — Rowland Hill. 

The godly man is both a diamond and loadstone — a diamond of sparkling 
grace, a loadstone for his attractive virtue. — Sel. 

Inconsistency is not like the error of a pocket watch, which misleads one 
person only; but like the error of a town clock, which misleads a multitude. 
—Sel. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

SUNDAY. 



The Golden Psalm. 



-Psaln 



1 Preserve me, O God : for in thee do I put 
my trust. 

2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, 
Thou a7-i my Lord : my goodness extendeth not 
to thee ; 

3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and 
to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. 

4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that 
hasten «//(?r another god : their drink offerings 
of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names 
into my lips. 

5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheri- 
tance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. 

6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant 
places ; yea, I have a goodly heritage. 



7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me 
counsel : my reins also instruct me in the night 
seasons. 

8 I have set the Lord always before me : be- 
cause he is at my right hand, I shall not be 
moved. 

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory 
rejoiceth : my flesh also shall rest in hope. 

10 For ihou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; 
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see 
corruption. 

1 1 Thou wilt shew me the path of life : in 
thy presence is fulness of joy ; at thy right hand 
there are pleasures for evermore. 



Ainsworth calls this Psalm " David's jewel, or notable song." We are 
not left to human interpreters for the key to this golden mystery, for, speak- 
ing by the Holy Ghost, Peter tells us, " David speaketh concerning Him " 
(Acts ii. 25) ; and again (Acts ii. 29-31) ; also Paul, (Acts xiii. 35-38). The 
Psalm pertains to Christ, who speaks in it. 

" For in thee do I put my trust," or, / have taken shelter in thee. "As 
chickens run beneath the hen, so do I betake myself to thee. Thou art my 
great overshadowing Protector, and I have taken refuge beneath thj^ 
strength. This is a potent argument in pleading, and our Lord knew not 

(105) 



106 



E I G H T H WE E K 



only how to use it with God, but how to yield to its power when wielded by 
others upon himself. .... Faith, like the sword of Saul, never returns 
empty ; it overcomes heaven when held in the hand of prayer. As the 
Saviour prayed, so let us pray, and as he became more than a conqueror, so 
shall we also through him; let us when buffeted by storms right bravely 
cry to the Lord as he did, ' In thee do I put my trust.' " — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — And a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, 
and a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land. — Isa. xxxii. 2. 

" The promise that Christ will be as the ' shadow of a great rock in a 
weary land ' is to me one of great sweetness and consolation. That life has 
its wearisome windings through disappointments and sorrow cannot be 
denied. Our souls grow sick and faint in the struggles we pass through. 
One thing after another fails us. Our loves, our friendships, our trusts, are 
often misplaced, and our human calculations fail us, and we feel ourselves 
driven mercilessly onward, finding no resting-place until we come to the 
' shadow of a great rock.' 

" Thanks to the immutability of God, that Rock stands a ready covert, 
when time and change have done their worst to drive us to despair!" — 
Lydia L. Rouse. 

MONDAY. 

" He Came." — John i. 1-28. 



1 In the beginning wns the Word, and the I 
Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

2 The same was in the beginning with God. 

3 All things were made by him ; and without 
him was not any thing made that was made. 

4 In him was life; and the life was the light 
of men. 

5 And the light shineth in darkness ; and the 
darkness comprehended it not. 

6 ^ There was a man sent from God, whose 
name was John. 

7 The same came for a witness, to bear wit- 
ness of the Light, that all men through him 
might believe. 

8 He was not that I^ight, but was sent to bear 
witness of that Light. 

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world. 

10 He was in the world, and the world w.ts 
made by him, and the world knew him not. 

11 He came unto his own, and his own 
received him not. 

12 But as many as received him, to them gave 
he power to become the sons of God, even to 
them that believe on his name : 



13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
God. 

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as 
of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. 

15 John bare witness of him, and cried, say- 
ing, This was he of whom I spake, He that 
Cometh after me is preferred before me ; for he 
was before me. 

16 And of his fulness have all we received, 
and grace for grace. 

17 For the law was given by Moses, hul grace 
and truth came by Jesus Christ. 

18 No man hath seen God at any time; the 
only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of 
the Father, he hath declared him. 

19 \ And this is the record of John, when the 
Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to 
.ask him. Who art thou ? 

20 And he confessed, and denied not; but 
confessed, I am not the Christ. 

21 And they asked him. What then? Art 



MON DAY. 



107 



thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou 
thatTrophet? And he answered, No. 

22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou ? 
that we may give an answer to them that sent 
us. What sayest thou of thyself? 

23 He said, I atn the voice of one crying in 
the wilderness. Make straight the way of the 
Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. 

24 And they which were sent were of the 
Pharisees. 

25 And they asked him, and said unto him, 



Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that 
Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet ? 

26 John answered them, saying, I baptize 
with water : but there standeth one among you, 
whom ye know not ; 

27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred 
before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy 
to unloose. 

28 These things were done in Bethabara 
beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. 



Je.sus Christ the Word, the Life, the Light, the Maker of all thing.s, 
" came unto his own " — a stranger unknown, in His own world. Some 
received Him ; some do now. To such He gives right or inheritance of 
sonship, assurance of adoption. 

" Man lost paradise by receiving a gift from Satan. There is no way to 
regain it but by receiving Christ, the gift of God. Am I one of the many 
who have received Christ? This question is of eternal moment." — Wm. 
Mason. 

What is it to receive Christ? Many precious souls are sadl)^ perplexed 
and greatly distressed on this point. But why should they be? St. John 
plainly tells us, that to receive Christ is to believe on his name, that he is 
the anointed Saviour of lost sinners. Do you receive this truth into your 
heart? Does your mind go out after Christ ? Do you hunger and thirst 
to know him as your Saviour? Then you do .believe in Christ's name. 
He gives you, and all such, " power to become the sons of God." Not 
merely puts it in the power of your free-will to choose whether you will 
become a son of God or not; but he actually bestows this heavenly honor 
upon us. He gives us the right (or privilege, as in the margin of our 
Bibles) of enjoying the comfort and blessing of being the adopted sons of 
God. 



Closet Promise. — Thus 

redeemer the Lord of hosts : 
me there is no God. — Isa. xli 



saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his 
I am the first, and I am the last ; and beside 
V. 6. 



Jesus is God ! There never was 
A time when He was not ; 



Boundless, eternal, merciful, 

The Word the Sire begot.— i^ W. Faber. 



TUESDAY. 

'Come and See." — John i. 29-51 



29 \ The next day John seeth Jesus coming 
unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, 
■which taketh away the sin of the world ! 



30 This is he of whom I said, After me Com- 
eth a man which is preferred before me; for he 
was before me. 



108 



EIGHTH WEEK. 



31 And I knew him not : but that he should 
be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come 
baptizing with water. 

32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the 
Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and 
it abode upon him. 

33 And I knew him not : but he that sent me 
to baptize with water, the same said unto me, 
Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, 
and remaining on him, the same is he which 
baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 

34. And I saw, and bare record that this is the 
Son of God. 

35 TT Again the next day after, John stood, 
and two of his disciples ; 

36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he 
saith, Behold the Lamb of God ! 

37 And the two disciples heard him speak, 
and they followed Jesus. 

38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them follow- 
ing, and saith unto them, What seek ye ? They 
said unto him. Rabbi, (which is to say, being 
interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou ? 

39 He saith unto them. Come and see. They 
came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with 
him that day : for it was about the tenth hour. 

40 One of the two which heard John speak, 
and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peters 
brother. 

41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, 
and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, 
which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 

42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when 



I Jesus beheld him, he said. Thou art Simon the 
son of Jonas: thou shalt be called Cephas, 
which is by interpretation, A stone. 

43 l[The day following Jesus would go forth 
into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto 
him. Follow me. 

44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of 
Andrew and Peter; 

45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto 
him. We have found him, of whom Moses in 
the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of 
Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 

46 And Nathanaei said unto him. Can there 
any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip 
saith unto him. Come and see. 

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and 
saith of him. Behold an Israelite indeed, in 
whom is no guile ! 

48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence know- 
est thou me? Jesus answered and said unto 
him. Before that Philip called thee, when thou 
wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 

49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, 
Rabbi, thou art the Son of God ; thou art the 
King of Israel. 

50 Jesus answered and said unto him. Because 
I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, 
believest thou ? thou shalt see greater things 
than these. 

51 And he saith unto him. Verily, verily, I 
say unto you. Hereafter ye shall see heaven 
open, and the angels of God ascending and de- 
scending upon the Son of man. 



"When Jesus had found Philip, Phihp knezv that he had found Him. 
And the next thing to knowing that ' we have found Him ' is to find some 
one else, and say, ' Come and see !'.... It is not always very easy to 
say it. You little know how much it sometimes costs us ! But ' we cannot 
but speak the things which we have seen and heard ; ' ' we also believe, and 
therefore speak.'. We have seen Jesus, and therefore we must tell you of 
the sight, and entreat you to ' come and see.' Understand or misunderstand 
us as you will, we must say, ' come ! ' 

" But what is it that we are so burningly eager for you to see ? . . . . We 
have seen by faith the only sight that is worth gazing upon, the sight that 
satisfies the angels, the sight that is enough for the joy and satisfaction of 
immortal vision throughout eternity. One thing we know, that, whereas we 
were blind, now we see. We see Jesus as our Lord and our God. We see 
Him as the very Saviour we need, and the very Friend we craved. We see 
Him as ' the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.' We 
see Him wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities ; 
our Substitute and our Sin-bearer. We see Him, too, crowned with glory 
and honor, and we rejoice in His glory and beauty; we make our boast of 



kkx. 





TUESDAY. 



Ill 



Him. If }'OU say to us, ' What is thy Beloved more than another beloved ? ' 
we reply, ' My beloved is the chiefest among ten thousand. Yea, He is 
altogether lovely.' " — F. R. Havej'gal. 

Closet Promise. — The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that 
we are the children of God : and if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and 
joint-heirs with Christ : if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be 
also glorified together. — Rom. viii. 16-17. 



'Attesting to the work within, 
The Spirit's voice is heard ; 
As well we know the gracious voice 



As any human word ; 
The things God freely gives we know, 
As He the work divine doth show." 



WEDNESDAY. 

The First Foreign Missionaries. — Acts xiii. 1-13. 



1 Now there were in the church that was at 
Antioch certain prophets and teachers ; as 
Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, 
and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, whicli had 
been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and 
Saul. 

2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, 
the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and 
Saul for the vv'ork whereunto I have called them. 

3 And when they had fnsted and prayed, and 
laid their hands on them, they sent ikern away. 

4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, 
departed unto Seleucia ; and from thence they 
sailed to Cyprus. 

5 And when they were at Salamis, they 
preached the word of God in the synagogues of 
the Jews: and they had also John to t/t,:ir min- 
ister. 

6 And when they had gone through the isle 
unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a 
false prophet, a Jew, whose name zvas Barjesus : 

7 Which was with the deputy of the country, 
Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for 



Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the 
word of God. 

8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his 
name by interpretation) withstood tliem, seeking 
to turn away the deputy from the faith. 

9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled 
with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 

10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all 
mischief, tJuni child of the devil, thou enemy of 
all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert 
the right ways of the Lord ? 

11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is 
upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing 
the sun for a season. And immediately there 
fell on him a mist and a darkness ; ^nd he went 
about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 

12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was 
done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine 
of the Lord. 

13 \ Now when Paul and his company loosed 
from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia ; 
and John departing from them returned to Jeru- 
salem. 



The foreign missionary work of the church is of divine origin. "The 
Holy Ghost said. Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I 
have called them." It was God the Holy Spirit who called them to leave 
Antioch and carry the glad tidings to the heathen beyond. 

" I wonder if there were not some members of the church to raise the ob- 
jection that they had heathens enough at home. They would have had 
more ground to stand on than many who raise that objection to-day. An- 
tioch was a city of more than two hundred thousand inhabitants, most of 
whom were idolaters. Onl)' a few, comparatively, had been won to Chris- 
tianity. Yet Barnabas and Saul are taken away 1 If those who are in the 
habit of meeting the claims of the foreign missionary cause with the cry cf 



112 



EIGHTH WKEK. 



'heathen at home' will ponder seriously and candidly this incident in the 
history of the early church they will get some light. This is God's work. 
It is by His command that His church is engaged in it. It is our duty 
simply to obey. If we have the spirit of our Master our obedience will 
be prompt, joyful, and thankful." — R. R. Meredith, D. D. 

God has put the seal of His approval on this work. Since Barnabas and 
Saul went forth, multitudes from many lands, through many ages, have been 
won to Christ. 

Closet Promise. — God loveth a cheerful giver. — 2 Cor. ix. 7. 

If I can only place one little brick in the pavement of the Lord's pathway 
I will place it there, that coming generations may walk thereon to the 
heavenly city. — Phillips Brooks. 



THURSDAY. 

Hallelujah ! — Psalm cl. 



1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his 
sanctuary : praise him in the firmament of his 
power. 

2 Praise him for his mighty acts : praise him 
according to his excellent greatness. 

3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet : 
praise him with the psaltery and harp. 



4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance : 
praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 

5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise 
him upon the high sounding cymbals. 

6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the 
Lord. Praise ye tfie Lord. 



" Each of the last five psalms begins and ends with Hallelujah ! — 'Praise 
ye the Lord! And each Psalm increases in praise, love, and joy, unto the 
last, which is praise celebrating its ecstasy. The elect soul, the heir of God, 
becomes ' eaten up ' with the love of God. He begins every sentence with 
Hallebijah ; and his sentences are verj^ short, for he is in haste to utter his 
next Hallelujah, and his next, and his next. He is as one out of breath with 
enthusiasm, or as one on tiptoe, in the act of rising from earth to heaven. 
The greatest number of words between any two Hallelujahs is four, and 
that only once ; in every other instance, between one Hallelujah and another 
there are but two words. It is as though the soul gave utterance to its 
whole life and feeling in the one word, Hallebjah ! The words, ' Praise ye 
the Lord ! ' or ' Praise him ! ' ' Praise him ! ' ' Praise him ! ' are reiterated 
no fewer than twelve times in a short psalm of six short verses." — yohn 
Piilsford. 

"And now, in the last psalm of all, we see an echo to the first psalm. 
The first psalm began with ' Blessed,' and it ended with ' Blessed ' — ' IMessed 
are all they that meditate on God's law and do it' Such was the theme of 



THURSDAY. 



113 



the first psalm ; and now the fruit of that blessedness is shown in this psalm, 
which begins and ends with Hallelujah." — Cliristopher Wordsworth. 

Closet Promise. — I vvill praise the name of God with a song, and will 
magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better 
than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. — Psalm Ixix. 30, 31. 



Not only for the light of loving hearts 

That cheered my lonely life, I thank Thee, 
God; 
Not for my childhood's home, nor tearless eyes, 
Nor pleasant paths of peace my feet have 
trod ; 
But that the idols, tenderly embraced, 

By this weak heart, and falsely called mine 
own. 



Thou didst withdraw, that I in time might learn 

To lean upon Thy holy arm alone. 
For the sharp reed that pierced this feeble hand, 
For thorn-torn feet that Thou alone couldst 
see, 
For the deep fount of tears by Thee told o'er, 
I thank Thee, Lord. They brought me nearer 
Thee. —Anna Shipton. 



FRIDAY. 

The Year of Jubilee.— Lev. xxv. 8-17. 



8 And thou shah number seven Sabbaths of 
years unto thee, seven times seven years ; and 
the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be 
unto thee forty and nine years. 

9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the 
jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh 
month, in the day of atonement shall ye make 
the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 

10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and 
proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all 
the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto 
you ; aTid ye shall return every man unto his 
possessions, and ye shall return every man unto 
his family. 

11 A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto 
you : ye shall not sow, neither reap that which 
groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it 
of thy vine undressed. 

12 For it is the jubilee ; it shall be holy unto 



you : ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the 
field. 

13 In the year of this jubilee ye shall return 
every man unto his possession. 

14 And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, 
or buyest aught of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall 
not oppress one another: 

15 According to the number of years after the 
jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and ac- 
cording unto the number of years of the fruits 

I he shall sell unto thee, 

I 16 According to the multitude of years thou 
shalt increase the price thereof, and according 
to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the 
price of it ; for according to the number of the 
years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. 

17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; 
but thou shalt fear thy God : for I am the Lord 
your God. 



This was the most extraordinary of all the seasons which the Israelites 
were commanded to observe. It is a beautiful type of the Millennium, the 
final " restitution of all things," when " righteousness shall cover the earth 
as the waters cover the sea." It was 

1. A Year of Freedom. Vers. 8-10. Every slave became a free man. 
Shackles fell off. Prison doors were opened. Such to-day is the effect of 
the proclamation of the liberty of the gospel. Christ came as the great 
emancipator. 

2. A Year of Rest. Vers. 11, 12. The year of freedom was a year of 
rest. For that year there was no hard drudgery. It was a symbol of the 
rest into which the people of God shall enter, when labor and sorrow shall 



114 EIGHTH WEEK. 

cease forever. The }'ear of freedom was also a year of trust. It was a year 
of living upon God. The people were partakers of the Lord's bounty. 

3. A Year of Restoration. Vers. 13-17. It was a year of the inculcation 
of the spirit of brotherhood. It had a half century of effect; for the law 
enjoined its observance throughout the transactions of the whole forty-nine 
years. All property bought and sold, was bought and sold under the opera- 
tion of this command — " Ye shall not oppirss." 

Closet Promise, — The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and 
from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve. 
— Isa. xiv. 3. 

Grant to me above all things that can be desired, to rest in Thee, and in 
Thee to have my heart at peace. Thou art the true peace of the heart, 
Thou its only rest ; out of Thee all things are hard and restless. In this 
very peace, that is, in Thee, the One Chiefest Eternal Good, I will sleep 
and rest. Amen. — Thomas A'Kenipis. 

SATURDAY. 

The Fruit of the Spirit. — Gal. v. 16-26. 



16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and 
ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and 
the Spirit against the flesh : and these are con- 
tr.-iry the one to the other ; so that ye cannot do 
the things that ye would. 

18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not 



under the law. | is no law. 



lings, and such like : of the which I tell you be- 
fore, as I have also told you in time past, that 
they which do such things shall not inherit the 
kingdom of God. 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

23 Meekness, temperance : against such there 



19 'How the works of the flesh are manifest, 
which are these, adultery, fornication, unclean- 
ness, lasciviousness, 

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, em- 
ulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel- 



24 And they that are Christ's have crucified 
the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in 
the Spirit. 

26 Let us not be desirous of vainglory, pro- 
voking one another, envying one another. 



" This is a rich coronet of graces, with which the apostle decks the char- 
acter of the Christian believer. He tells us here what a spiritual life in 
Christ means, a life that has its ripe fruit in these real virtues of the man. 
It is no exact classification of the religious graces, but we may find an in- 
ward harmony, as if he thought of them as following a law of personal 
growth. Love, joy, and peace are the inmost dispositions of the heart, flow- 
ing from communion with the heart of Christ; longsuffering, gentleness, 
goodness are social dispositions toward others ; and faith, meekness, temper- 
ance (or self-restraint) are qualities of conduct." — E. A. Washburn, D. D. 

" He who has entered into the true spirit of love, and lives in it, and speaks 



SATURDAY. 



115 



in it, and sings in it, and works in it, is a Christian ; but he who works, and 
sings, and speaks, and hves in any other spirit except that of love, is not a 

Christian He is the truest Christian who is becoming the sweetest, 

the mildest, the easiest to be entreated, the gentlest. He who is overcom- 
ing the obliquities of his natural temper; he who is working out, one after 
another, every part and element of his nature, so that he lives habitually in 
a Christ-like disposition, in a spirit of love, is the one that is growing in 
grace." — H. W. Beecher. 



Closet Promise, — Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright : for 
the end of that man is peace. — Psalm xxxvii. 37. 



' 'Tis not for man to trifle. Life is brief, 

And sin is here. 
Our age is but the falling of a leaf, 

A dropping tear. 
We have no time to sport away the hours ; 
All must be earnest in a world like ours. 



Not many lives, but only ofte have we — 

One, only one ; 
How sacred should that one life ever be — 

That narrow span ! 
Day after day filled up with blessed toil. 
Hour after hour still bringing in new spoil. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — They that seek the Lord shall not want any good 
thing. — Psa. xxxiv. 10. 

Weekly Proverb. — Doors and walls are fools' paper. — Poor Richard. 

T>All.^ BIBLE READING.— GODS " FEAR NOTS." 

Sunday. — To Joshua. — ^Josh. x. l-ll. 
Monday. — In Isaiah. — xli. I-20. 
Tuesday. — In Isaiah. — xliii. 1-7. 
Wednesday. — In Isaiah. — xliv. 1-8. 
Thursday. — In Isaiah. — li. 1-8. 
Friday. — In Isaiah.-^liv. l-io. 
Saturday. — In Jeremiah. — xxx. 10-17. 



WHOSOEVER. 



There are children on the floor, 
Conning Bible lessons o'er. 

" Which word all the Bible through 
Do you love best ? " queried Sue. 

" I like Faith the best," said one ; 
"Jesus is my word alone." 

" I like Hope ; " " and I like Love ; ' 
"I like Heaven, our home above." 



One more, smaller than the rest, 
" I like Whosoever best ; 

" Whosoever, that means all — 
Even me, who am so small." 

" Whosoever ! " Ah ! I see. 
That's the word for you and me. 

" Whosoever will " may come — 
Find a pardon and a home. 

— Gleanings for the Voting. 



116 THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Be kind. — Epli. iv. 32. 

Last weel-: we talked about kindness to persons. Now I want to talk 
about kindness to the brute creation. President Lincoln, walking one day 
with his secretary, stopped at a little shrub, and looked into it; then stooped, 
and put his hand down through the twigs and leaves, as if to take something 
out. His secretary said to him, " What do you find there, Mr. Lincoln ? " — 
" Wh}^," said he, " here is a little bird fallen from its nest, and I am trying to 
put it back again." Wasn't that kind of Mr. Lincoln? How much more 
tenderhearted than if he had done like some boys do, when they rob the 
poor birds' nests and carry off their eggs or young ones ! I read of a little 
sailor-boy who took with him a pet kitten. His ship was wrecked off the 
Azore Lslands. He was about to jump into one of the life-boats, when he 
thought of his kitten, and ran after it. Returning with it, the first boat 
was gone; but another was ready, into which he jumped. Of all the boats 
that started from the wreck, this only was saved. Had the boy forsaken his 
kitten, he must have perished with the first boat's company. It pays to be 
kind ! 



CHRIST'S TEMPTATION. 

Do you often wonder why Jesus was tempted? Because Jesus, as man, 
was to suffer all that we suffer; and "to be tempted like as we are, yet 
without sin." He came to conquer Satan, and to deliver sinners from his 
power. This same Satan who tempted Jesus, tempts us now every day we 
live. Listen to what the Bible says about him : " Your adversary, the 
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour." We 
cannot see him with our eyes, nor hear his voice speaking to us, as Jesus 
could; but we can feel him in our hearts, filling them with evil passions, and 
sinful tempers, and wicked thoughts. Whenever, we are inclined to be 
naughty, Satan is tempting us, but we must try to be strong and drive him 
away; and our Lord Jesus will help us if we only try, and will drive him 
away. Jesus speaks of little children as His lambs. He is the Good Shep- 
lierd who will save them from tiie roaring lion. 



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THE TEMPTATION. 

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the 

devil. — Matt. iv. I. 

ii6 



NINTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. — Gal. vi. 2. 



Beside a sandal-tree a woodman stood With light from heaven, a nature pure and 

And swung the ax, and, as the strokes were great, 

laid Will place its highest bliss in doing good. 
Upon the fragrant trunk, the generous wood, And good for ev4l give, and love for hate. 

With its own sweets perfumed the blade. — Bryant. 

Go then, and do the like ; a soul endued 

Father thou knowest. Here we are all together. We would not live 
as if we were alone. Help us to speak and to listen, to teach and to learn. 
Help us to bear each other's burdens. — William Witlirow. 

Be patient with men. Often a man speaks hurriedly. When he has 
come to himself, he feels he has made a mistake. He is not quite man 
enough to acknowledge his-fault. If you hold him mercilessly to the record 
he has made, you will make an enemy. Be large enough to overlook his 
faults, and take him for what, on the whole, he intends to be. Many mis- 
understandings and serious differences would be avoided by obeying this. 
— Selected. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

SUNDAY. 

St. Paul's Wonderful Prayer. — Ephes. iii. 8-21. 



8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all 
saints, is this grace given, that I should preach 
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of 
Christ ; 

9 And to make all men see what is the fellow- 
ship of the mystery, which from the beginning 
of the world hath been hid in God, who created 
all things by Jesus Christ : 

10 To the intent that now unto the principali- 
ties and powers in heavenly places might be 
known by the church the manifold wisdom of 
God, 

1 1 According to the eternal purpose which he 
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord : 

12 In whom we have boldness and access 
with confidence by the faith of him. 

13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my 
tribuialions for you, which is your glory. 

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 



15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and 
earth is named, 

16 That he would grant you, according to 
the riches of his glo.ry, to be strengthened wilh 
might by his Spirit in the inner man; 

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by 
faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in 
love, 

18 May be able to comprehend with all 
saints what is the breadth, and length, and 
depth, and height ; 

19 And to know the love of Christ, which 
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with 
all the fulness of God. 

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding 
abundantly above all that we ask or think, ac- 
cording to the power that worketh in us, 

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ 
Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. 
Amen. 



" The philosophic Hamerton tells us the story of a woman who worked 
in a cotton factory in one of the great manufacturing towns in Lancashire, 

7 (117) 



118 



NINTH WEEK. 



and who, in an excursion, went for the first time to the coast. When she 
caught the earliest ghmpse of the Irish Sea, the expanse lying out before 
her eyes, looking like the limitlessness of the ocean in its rush and roll of 
billows, she exclaimed, as she drew one boundless breath of freshness 
and glory : 'At last, here comes something there is enough of! ' " — Dr. 
Robinsoft. 

But what shall we say of those who come by faith, to the margin of the 
great sea of Infinite Love. Looking out upon this wide, fathomless expanse, 
we may say, with a thousandfold more emphasis and delight, "At last, here 
comes something there is enotigh off " 

" I had a friend who preached once on the love of God and its unfathom- 
able nature. He used this figure. Brought a sounding hne and reached 
away down and said, ' So many fathoms.' Another expression, ' So many 
fathoms,' and then cried out, ' More line ! ' ' More line ! ' He had not line 
enough to measure the depth of the love of God. I am not able to describe 
it all, but, thank God, you and I have all eternity to try our line." — 
Bishop Simpson. 

Closet Promise. — All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believ- 
ing, ye shall receive. — Matt. xxi. 22. 



When cares and sorrows round me roll, 
Do thou, O Lord, my will control, 

And lead me to Thy breast. 
Give me Thy loving rod to know^, 
To lean not on a reed below, 

But find in Thee my rest. 

Let faith my languid heart revive, 
And teach me how I ought to live 
My duty to pursue. 



Unseal my lips, direct my mind 
Thy sacred oracles to find, 
With wisdom to bestrew. 

Help me, my God, Thy grace to gain, 
Tho' found through suffering, toil, and pain. 

Yet purified to stand. 
Then eye to eye shall I behold 
The secrets of Thy faithful fold. 

When crowned at Thy right hand. 

— /. W. Kelley. 



MONDAY. 

The Temptation of Jesus. — Luke iv. 



1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost re- 
turned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit 
into the wilderness, 

2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And 
in those days he did eat nothing: and when 
they were ended, he afterward hungered. 

3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the 
.Son of God, command this stone that it be made 
liread. 

4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is writ- 
ten. That man shall not live by bread alone, but 
by every word of God. 

5 And the devil, taking him up into a high 



mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of 
the world in a moment of time. 

6 And the devil said unto him. All this power 
will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that 
is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, 
I give it. 

7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall 
be thine. 

8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, 
Get thee behind me, Satan : for it is written. 
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him 
only shalt thou serve. 

9 And he brought liiin to Jerusalem, and set 



MONDAY. 119 

him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto I2 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is 

him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down I said. Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. 



from hence ; 

10 For it is written. He shall give his angels 
charge over thee, to keep thee : 

1 1 And in their hands they shall bear thee 
up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a 
stone. 



13 And when the devil had ended all the 
temptation, he departed from him for a season. 

14 \ And Jesus .returned in the power of the 
Spirit into Galilee : and there went out a fame 
of him through all the region round about. 

15 And he taught in their synagogues, being 
glorified of all. 



Why was Christ thus led up to be tempted ? i. That we might see in His 
victory over the Evil one, that He really was the Son of God. 2. That we 
might have the comfort of feeling that we have not an high-priest who can 
not be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but in all points was tempted 
like as we are, though He was without sin, and that, having been tempted, 
He is able to succor those who are tempted. 3. That we might know that 
with the aid of the Holy Spirit it is possible to overcome temptations the 
most severe. 

The first was a temptation of hunger : what fierce temptations come to 
hungry men ! But every starving wretch can feel that his Lord battled the 
same pains that torture him, only they were stronger and His temptation 
greater. 

The second was a temptation of fame. The passion to which the devil 
appealed was the pride of the human heart — mere display. The argument 
with which he supported it was a quotation of Scripture. Jesus showed that 
such a test was not true faith — it was presumption. 

"Proving God is different from tempting Him." — L. H. Wiseman. 

The third was a temptation of ambition. In this we see the danger attend- 
ing worldly prosperity. In the example of Jesus we have a perfect instance 
of deadness to the world. His example rebukes covetous and worldly 
ambition. 

''The devil leaveth him!' "The devil may suggest: compel he cannot." 
— Si. Chrysostom. All the varied forms of temptation are reducible to 
three — pride, avarice, and sensuality — three root-passions (i John ii. 16). 
So Christ was tempted in all points as we are. 

Closet Promise. — In that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He 
is able to succor them that are tempted. — Heb. ii. 18. 

" 'What a Saviour ! ' How wonderfully constituted ! He was God, as it 
was necessary He should be ; and yet not merely God, but man, too. A 
Saviour with two natures : one reaching up to God, the other down to us. 
How wonderful that He should not only have taken our nature, but come 
down to our condition, and surrounded Himself with our circumstances — 



120 



NINTH WBEK. 



become subject to such temptations as we are subject to ! Oh, ' what a 
Saviour! ' Why, He knows from experience what pain is ; He has had the 
trials I have ; He has been through this vale of tears ; He knows how I am 
tried ; He remembers how He was tried. He wept over the very city and 
people whose soil and hands were about to be stained with His blood. I 
wonder I love Him so little; I wonder He is not more precious to me; I 
wonder any should be offended in Him. How can He appear a root 
out of a dry ground? Why don't all see His form and comeliness ?" — Dr. 
Nevins. 



TUESDAY. 

'The Feast of Redemption." — Psalm Ixxxi. 



1 Sing aloud unto God our strength : make a 
joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. 

2 Take a ps:ilm, and bring hither the timbrel, 
the pleasant harp with the psaltery. 

3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in 
the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. 

4 For this was a statute for Israel, mid a law 
of the God of Jacob. 

5 This he ordained in Joseph /or a testimony, 
when he went out through the land of Egypt : 
where I heard a language that I understood 
not. 

6 I removed his shoulder from the burden : 
his hands were delivered from the pots. 

7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered 
thee; I answered thee in the secret place of 
thunder : I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. 
Selah. 

8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto 
thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; 



9 There shall no strange god be in thee; 
neither shalt thou worship any strange god. 

10 I am the Lord thy God which brought 
thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth 
wide, and I will fill it. 

11 But my people would not hearken to my 
voice ; and Israel would none of me. 

12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' 
lust: and {hey walked in their own counsels. 

13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto 
me, and Israel had walked in my ways ! 

14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, 
and turned my hand against their adversaries. 

15 The haters of the Lord should have sub- 
mitted themselves unto him : but their time 
should have endured for ever. 

16 He should have fed them also with the 
finest of the wheat : and with honey out of the 
rock should I have satisfied thee. 



In this Psalm the Lord gently chides his people for their ingratitude, and 
pictures their happy estate had they but been obedient to his commands. 

" The Lord can do great things for an obedient people. When his people 
walk in the light of his countenance, and maintain unsullied holiness, the 
joy and consolation which he yields them are beyond conception. To them 
the joys of heaven have begun even upon earth." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

'"Open thy month wide, a7td I xvill fill it! You may easily over-expect 
the creature, but you cannot over-expect God : ' Open thy mouth wide, and 
I will fill it ; ' widen and dilate the desires and expectations of your souls, 
and God is able to fill every chink to the vastest capacity. This honors 
God, when we greaten our expectation upon him ; it is a sanctifying of God 
in our hearts." — Thomas Case. 

"He should have fed them also witli the finest of the zvheat ; and tvith honey 
out of the rock should I have satisfied thee." God would not have fed them 



TUESDAY. 



121 



with wheat only, that's good ; but with the finest wheat, that's the best. In 
the margin it reads, " ivith the fat of wheat." They should have had not 
only honey, but honey out of the rock, which, as naturalists observe, is the 
best and purest honey. 

" The rock spiritually and mystically designs Christ, the Rock of Salva- 
tion, I Cor. X. 4; the 'honey' out of the rock, the fulness of grace in him, 
and the blessings of it, the sure mercies of David, and the precious promises 
of the everlasting covenant; and the gospel, which is sweeter than the honey 
or the honey-comb ; and with these such are filled and satisfied who hearken 
to Christ and walk in his ways; for, as the whole of what is here said shows 
what Israel lost by disobedience it clearly suggests what such enjoy who 
hear and obey." — yohii Gill. 



Closet Promise. — Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. — i Tit 



17- 



To me remains nor place nor time ; 
My country is in every clime ; 
I can be calm and free from care 
On any shore, since God is there. 

While place we seek, or place we shi 
The soul finds happiness in none ; 
But with a God to guide our way, 
'Tis equal joy to go or stay. 



Could I be cast where Thou art not. 
That would indeed be a dreadful lot ; 
But regions none remote I call 
Secure of finding God in all. 

My country, Lord, art Thou alone ; 
No other can I claim to own ; 
The point where all my wishes meet. 
My law my love; life's only sweet. 

— Madame Guyon. 



WEDNESDAY. 



Readiness. — Matt, xxv. 



I Then shall the kingdom of heaven be 
likened unto ten virgins, which took tlieir 
lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 
, 2 -And five of them were wise, and five were 
foolish. 

3 They that were foolish took their lamps, 
and took no oil with them : 

4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with 
their lamps, 

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all 
slumbered and slept. 

6 ."Vnd at midnight there was a cry made. 
Behold, the bridegroom Cometh; go ye out to 
meet him. 

7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed 
their lamps. 



8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us 
of your oil ; for our lamps are gone out. 

9 But tlie wise answered, saying, Not so; 
lest there be not enough for us and you : but go 
ye rather to them that sell, and buy for your- 
selves. 

10 And while they went to buy, the bride- 
groom came ; and they that were ready went 
in with him to the marriage : and the door was 
shut. 

11 Afterward came also the other virgins, 
saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 

12 But he answered and said, Verily I say 
unto you, I know you not. 

13 Watch therefore; for ye know neither 
the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man 
Cometh. 



This is one of Christ's most thrilling parables. The diverse character of 
the virgins represents the diverse cliaracter of Christian professors — part 



22 



NINTH WEEK. 



wise, part foolish ; part with burning lamps and oil in their vessels, part with 
burning lamps but no oil in their vessels. 

We should note : "All are not Israel who are of Israel. There may be a 
profession of Christianity without its possession." 

"A man may be very much like a Christian, and yet not be one. He 
may come very near the kingdom, and yet not enter in. He may have 
all the outward features of a Christian, and yet be lacking in the main 
one. He may have the complete dress of a saint, and yet not be one. He 
may have a good life, a sound creed, a strict profession ; he may be one who 
says and does many things excellent ; he may be a subscriber to all the re- 
ligious societies in the land, a member of all their committees, or a speaker 
at all their meetings, and supporter of all their plans ; he may profess to be 
looking for Christ's coming, and going forth to meet the Bridegroom, yet 
not necessarily a Christian ! He may lack the oil, the Holy Spirit." — H. 
Bonar, D. D. 

The sifting time will surely come — at the appearing of the Heavenly 
Bridegroom — which will be sudden and startling. The joy and triumph of 
the wise will be glorious, as they go with the Bridegroom in to the mar- 
riage feast — the disappointment of the foolish, the mere professors, will be 
indescribable as the door is shut. 

Closet Promise. — Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
of death, I will fear no evil : for Thou art with me ; Thy rod and Thy staff 
they comfort me. — Psalm xxiii. 4. 



The river's not wide. 

And the other side 
Seems nearer than ever before ; 

The waves once so dark 

Recede from the bark, 
As I list for the dip of the oar. 

I shudder no more, 
For the plash of the oar 

Falls in rhythmical cadence so sweet. 
It seems but a part 
Of the peace in my heart 

As the water flows nearer my feet. 



Nor yet do I shrink, 
Though close to the brink 
The breath from the river grows chill ; 
For through the deeji roll 
The peace in my soul 
Bids my fear and the waves be still. 

In the fast ebbing sand, 

Uplifted I stand 
By a Hand pierced for me long ago ; 

My sins all confessed, 

On His bosom I rest, 
By His blessing made ready to go. 

— Amanda Lowman Bartholomew. 



THURSDAY. 

The Bow in the Cloud. — Gen. i.x. 8-17. 



8 \ And God spake unto Noah, and to his 
sons with him, saying, 

9 .\nd I, behold, I establish my covenant 
with you, and with your seed after you ; 

10 And with every living creature that is 



with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of 
every beast of the earth with you; from all 
that go out of the ark, to every beast of the 
earth'. 

i 1 .\nd I will establish my covenant wilh 



THURSDAY 



12S 



you ; neither shall all ilesh be cut off any 
more by the waters of a ilood ; neither shall 
there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 

12 And God said, This is the token of the 
covenant which I make between me and you 
and every living creature that ts with you, for 
perpetual generations : 

13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall 
be for a token of a covenant between me and 
the earth. 

14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring 
a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be 
seen in the cloud : 



15 And I will remember my covenant, which 
?'s between me and you and every living creature 
of all flesh ; and the waters shall no more be- 
come a flood to destroy all flesh. 

16 And the bow shall be in the cloud ; and I 
will look upon it, tliat I may remember the 
everlasting covenant between God and every 
living creature of all flesh that is upon the 
earth. 

17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token 
of the covenant, which I have established be- 
tween me and all flesh that is upon the earth. 



" If it be true that God's rainbow stands as a pledge to the earth that it 
shall never again be overwhelmed, is it not also true that He has set His 
bow in every cloud that rises and troubles man's mental sky? We are too 
apt in troubles to settle down into sullen despair, to look to the worst, in- 
stead of waiting for the bow. There are many strange-shaped clouds that 
rise above man's horizon and make his heavens black with wind and rain. 
But each has its bow shining on it. Only wait, endure God's time, and the 
sun will look out on the rolling masses of vapor, on the rain, and paint 
thereon its token of God's love." — ^. Baring-Goidd. 

" The rainbow of the covenant of grace lasts for ever ; it never melts. 
The one on which Noah gazed soon lost its brilliancy. Fainter and fainter 
still it grew, until, like a colored haze, it just quivered in the air, and then 
faded from the vision. Ten thousand rainbows since have arched our earth, 
and then melted in the clouds; but the rainbow of God's mercy in Christ 
abides for ever. It shines with undiminished splendor from all eternity, and 
its brilliancy will dazzle the eyes of redeemed humanity through the count- 
less cycles of the same eternity." — W. Adamson. 

Closet Promise. — He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, or- 
dered in all things, and sure : for this is all my salvation, and all my desire. 
— 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. 



This is God's covenant. Now read Alleine's well-known covenant, which 
he made: "Make me what Thou wilt, Lord, and set me where Thou wilt: 
I put myself wholly into Thy hands ; put me to what Thou wilt ; rank me 
with whom Thou wilt ; put me to doing, put me to suffering ; let me be em- 
ployed by Thee, or laid aside for Thee, exalted for Thee, or trodden under 
foot for Thee; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let 
me have nothing ; I freely and heartily resign all to Thy pleasure and 
disposal." 



124 



NINTH WEEK. 



FRIDAY. 



The Juniper Tree.— i Ki 



1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had ; 
done, and withal how he had slain all the 1 
prophets with the sword. 

2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, j 
saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, I 
if I make not thy life as the life of one of them I 
by to-morrow about this time. 

3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went 
for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which be- 
longeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 

4 But he himself went a day's journey into 
the wilderness, and came and sat down under a 
juniper tree : and he requested for himself that 
he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O 
Lord, take away my life; for I am not better 
than my fathers. 

5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper 
tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and 
said unto him, Arise and eat. 

6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a 
cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water 
at his head. And he did eat and drink, and 
laid him down again. 

7 And the angel of the Lord came again the 
second time, and touched him, and said. Arise 
and eat ; because the journey is too great for 
thee. 

8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and 
went in the strength of that meat forty days 
and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 

9 And he came thither unto a cave, and 
lodged there; and, behold, the word of the 
Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What 
doest thou here, Elijah ? 

ID And he said, I have been very jealous for 
the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Is- 
rael have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down 
thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the 



sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they 
seek my life, to take it away. 

11 And he said. Go forth, and stand upon the 
mount before the Lord. And, behold, the 
Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind 
rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the 
rocks before the Lord; but the Lord jvas not 
in the wind : and after the wind an earthquake ; 
but the Lord was not in the earthquake : 

12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the 
Lord was not in the fire : and after the fire a 
still small voice. 

13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that 
he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, 
and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, 
behold, ihe?-e came a voice unto him, and said, 
What doe.'^t thou here, Elijah ? 

14 And he said, I have been very jealous for 
the Lord God of hosts : because the children 
of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown 
down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with 
the sword; and \, eve/t I only, am left; and 
they seek my life, to take it away. 

15 And the Lord said unto him. Go, return 
on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus : and 
when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king 
over Syria : 

16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou 
anoint to be king over Israel : and Elisha the son 
of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint 
to be prophet in thy room. 

17 And it shall come to pass, //z^/' him that 
escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay : 
and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu 
shall Elisha slay. 

18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Is- 
rael, all -the knees which liave not bowed unto 
Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed 
him. 



" What doest thou here ? " How often is that question put still ? When 
a Christian worker, sorely needed, deserts his post because of some unfore- 
seen difficulty, or to secure selfish gratification and ease ; to that couch of 
indolence or to that forest glade where soft breezes blow, the question comes, 
" What doest thou here?" When one endowed with great faculties digs a 
hole in the earth, and buries the God-intru.sted talent, standing idle all the 
day long among the loungers in the market-place, again must the inquiry 
ring out : " What doest thou here ? " 

" Life is the time for doing. The world is a great work-shop, in which 
there is no room for drones. God Himself worketh as the great Master- 
builder. All creatures fulfil their needful functions, from the angel that 
hymns God's praise to the in.sect that floats in the air. There is plenty 



FRIDAY. 



125 



to do : evil to put down ; good to build up ; doubters to be directed ; 
prodigals to be won back ; sinners to be sought. ' What doest thou here ? ' 
Up, Christians, leave your caves, and do. Do not do in order to be saved ; 
but, being saved, do." — F. B. Meyer. 

" There are some spirits which must go through a discipline analogous to 
that sustained by Elijah. The storm struggle must precede the still, small 
voice. There are minds which must be convulsed with doubt before they 
can repose in faith. There are hearts which must be broken with disap- 
pointment before they can rise into hope. Blessed is the man who, when 
the tempest has spent its fury, recognizes his Father's voice in its undertone, 
and bares his head and bows his knee as Elijah did. To such spirits it 
seems as if God had said : ' In the still sunshine and ordinary ways of life 
you cannot meet me, but, like Job, in the desolation of the tempest you 
shall see My form, and hear My voice, and know that your Redeemer 
liveth.' " — F. W. Robertson. 

Closet Promise. — I have set the Lord always before me : because He is 
at my right hand, I shall not be moved. — Psalm xvi. 8. 

Never give way to melancholy. Nothing encroaches more. I fight 
against it vigorously. One great remedy is to take short views of life. Are 
you happy? Are you likely to remain so till this evening, or next month, 
or next year ? Then why destroy it ? Then why destroy present happi- 
ness by a distant mysery, which may never come at all, or you may never 
live to see it ? For every substantial grief has twenty shadows, and most of 
them shadows of your own making. — Sidney Smith. 



SATURDAY. 

The Lord the Righteous Judge. — Psalm ix. 



1 I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole 
heart ; I will shew forth all thy marvellous 
works. 

2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee : I will 
sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High. 

3 When mine enemies are turned back, they 
shall fall and perish at thy presence. 

4 For thou hast maintained my right and my 
cause ; thou satest in the throne judging right. 

5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast 
destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their 
name for ever and ever. 

6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a 
perpetual end : and thou hast destroyed cities ; 
their memorial is perished with them. 

7 But the Lord shall endure forever : he hath 
prepared his throne for judgment. 



8 And he shall judge the world in righteous- 
ness, he shall minister judgment to the people 
in uprightness. 

9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the op- 
pressed, a refuge in times of trouble. 

10 And they that know thy name will put 
their trust in thee : for thou, Lord, hast not for- 
saken them that seek thee. 

11 Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth 
in Zion : declare among the people his doings. 

12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he 
remembereth them : he forgetteth not the cry 
of the humble. 

13 Have mercy upon me, O Lord ; consider 
my trouble which I suffer of them that hate 
me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of 
death : 



126 



NINTH WEEK. 



14 That I may shew forth all thy praise in the 
gates of the daughter of Zion : I will rejoice in 
thy salvalion. 

15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit 
that they made : in the net which they hid is 
their own foot taken. 

16 The Lord is known by the judgment 
which he executeth : the wicked is snared in the 
work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. 



17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and . 
all the nations thnt forget God. 

18 For the needy shall not always be forgot- 
ten : the expectation of the poor shall not perish 
for ever. 

19 Arise, O Lord ; let not man prevail : let 
the heathen be judged in thy sight. 

20 Put them in fear, O Lord ; that the na- 
tions may know themselves to be but men. Se- 
lah. 



The occasion of this Psahn is the reflection of David on the dealings of 
Providence in overcoming the enemies of God and His people, especially in 
his own time. 

This Psalm refers " mystically to the victory of the Son of God over the 
champion of evil, even the enemy of souls (verse 6). We have here before 
us most evidently a triumphal hymn ; may it strengthen the faith of the 
militant believer and stimulate the courage of the timid saint, as he sees 
here The Conqueror, on whose vesture and thigh is the name written. 
King of kings and Lord of lords." — C. H. Spiirgeoii. 

" The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of 
trouble." " It is reported of the Egyptians that, living in the fens, and 
being vexed with gnats, they used to sleep in high towers, whereby, those 
creatures not being able to soar so high, they were delivered from the biting 
of them : so would it be with us when bitten with cares and fear did we but 
run to God for refuge and rest confident of his help." — yo/in Trapp. 



Closet Promise. — Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain 
and hill shall be made low : and the crooked shall be made straight, and 
the rough places plain : and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and 
all flesh shall see it together. — Isa. xl. 4 5. 



If the ways of man shall my spirit vex. 
And the ways of God my soul perplex, 
When He has taken my life's desire, 
And molten my heart in His fining fire ; 
When the dearest eyes I cannot see, 



And the voice I longed for is dead to me : 
" Wait ! for thy longing shall find the key; 

Eternity ! Eternity ! 
Then shall the dayspring come back to thee.' 
- — Rose Terry Cooke. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give 
him, shall never thirst. — John iv. 14. 

Weekly Proverb, — Diligence is the mother of good luck. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— GOD'S "FEAR NOTS." 



Sunday. — In Ezekiel iii. 1-14. 



The CHILDREN'S CORNER. 12'/ 

Monday. — To Daniel. — Dan. x. 1-2 1. 

Tuesday. — For the Persecuted. — Matt. x. 24-42. 

Wednesday. — For the Mourner. — Luke viii. 49-56. 

TJmrsday. — For the " Little Flock." — Luke xii. 31-40. 

Friday. — To Paul. — Acts xxvii. 21-44. 

Saturday. — In Revelation i. 9-20. 



TEN TRUE FRIENDS. 



Ten true friends you have 
Who, five in a row, 

Upon each side of you 
Go where you go. 

Suppose you are sleepy, 
They help you to bed ; 

Suppose you are hungry, 
They see that you're fed. 

They wake up your dolly 
And put on her clothes, 

And trundle her carriage 
Wherever she goes. 



They buckle your skate-straps, 

And haul at your sled ; 
Are in summer quite white, 

And in winter quite red. 

Now, with ten willing servants 

So trusty and true. 
Pray, who would be lazy 

Or idle — «'ould you ? 

Would you find out the name 

Of this kind little band? 
Then count up the fingers 

On each litlle hand. 

— The Water Ltly. 



Be courteous. — i Pet. iii. 8. 

Everybody likes to see an obliging boy or girl. William Wirt's letter to 
his daughter contains the following passage : " I want to tell you a secret. 
The way to make yourself pleasing to others is to show them attention. 
The whole world is like the miller at Mansfield ' who cared for nobody — 
no, not he — because nobody cared for him.' And the whole world would 
serve you so if 5^ou gave them the same cause. Let every one, therefore, 
see that you do care for them by showing them what Sterne so happily 
called the small courtesies, in which there is no parade, whose voice is too 
still to tease, and which manifest themselves b}^ tender and affectionate looks 
and little acts of attention, giving others the preference in every little enjoy- 
ment, at the table, in the field, walking, sitting and standing." When 
Zachariah Fox, the great merchant of Liverpool, was asked by what means 
he contrived to realize so large a fortune as he possessed, his reply was : 
" Friend, by one article alone, in which thou mayest deal too if thou pleaseth 
— civility." May all my little friends study to have good manners. 



TENTH AVEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — But thou, when thou piayest, enter mto thy closet, and when thou hast shut 
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward 
thee openly. — Matt. vi. 6. 



Prayer — 
A breath that fleets beyond this iron world, 



And touches Him that made 



■Tennyson. 



Let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening. — 
Matthew Henry. 

A Christian will find his parentheses for prayer even in his busiest 
hours. — Cecil. 

If we would bring a holy life to Christ, we must mind our fireside duties, 
as well as the duties of the sanctuary. — Spiirgeon. 

A good prayer: " O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. 
If I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me." — Sir Jacob Ashley. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 
SUNDAY. 

The Dying Saviour. — Matt, xxvii. 26-54. 



26 And when he had scourged Jesus, he de- 
livered him to be crucified. 

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took 
Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto 
him the whole band of soldiers. 

28 And they stripped him, and put on him a 
scarlet robe. 

29 ^ And when they had platted a crown of 
thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in 
his right hand : and they bowed the knee before 
him, and mocked him, saying. Hail, King of 
the Jews ! 

30 And they spit upon him, and took the 
reed, and smote him on the head. 

31 And after that they had mocked him, they 
took the robe off from him, and put his own 
raiment on him, and led him away to crucify 
him. 

32 And as they came out, they found a man 
of Cyrene, Simon by name : him they compelled 
to bear his cross. 

33 And when they were come unto a place 
called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a 
skull, 

34 \ They gave him vinegar to drink mingled 
with gall : and when he had tasted thereof, he 
would not drink. 

35 And they crucified him, and parted his 
garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled 

(128) 



which was spoken by the prophet. They parted 
my garments among them, and upon my vesture 
did they cast lots. . 

36 And sitting down they watched him there ; 

37 And set up over his head his accusation 
written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF 
THE JEWS. 

38 Then were there two thieves crucified 
with him ; one on the right hand, and another 
on the left. 

39 \ And they that passed by reviled him, 
wagging their heads, 

40 And saying. Thou that destroyest the tem- 
ple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. 
If thou be the Son of God, come down from the 
cross. 

41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking 
him, with the scribes and elders, said, 

42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. 
If he be the King of Israel, let him now come 
down from the cross, and we will believe him. 

43 He trusted in God ; let him deiiver him 
now, if he will have him : for he said, I am the 
Son of God. 

44 The thieves also, which were crucified 
with him, cast the same in his teeth. 

45 Now from tlie sixth hour there was dark- 
ness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 

46 And about the ninth hour Jesu? cried with 



SUNDAY. 129 

a loud voice, sayiiifr. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthaiii ? ' rent in twain from the top to the bottom ; and 

that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou , the earth did quake, and the rocks rent ; 

forsaken me? i 52 And the graves were opened; and many 

47 Some of them that stood there, when they bodies of the saints which slept arose, 

heard that, said, This vian calleth for Elias. | 53 And came out of the graves after his res- 

48 And straightway one of them ran, and took urrection, and went into the holy city, and ap- 
a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it peared unto many. 

on a reed, and gave him to drink. , 54 Now when the centurion, and they that 

49 The rest said. Let be, let us see whether were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earth- 
Elias will come to save him. | quake, and those things that were done, they 

50 T[ Jesus, when he had cried again with a feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son 
loud voice, yielded up the ghost. of God. 

51 And, behold, the vail of the temple was - 

"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his 
head." 

" Every thorn in that crown is a symbol of divine love. Every thorn 
stood in a drop of blood, as every sorrow stood deep in the heart of the 
Saviour. And the great anguish, the shame, the indignity, the abandon- 
ment, the injustice, and that other unknown anguish which a God may feel, 
but a man may not understand — all these were accepted in gentleness, in 
quietness, without repelling, without protest, without exclamation, without 
surprise, without anger, without even regret. He was to teach the world a 
new life. He was to teach the heart a new ideal of character. He was to 
teach a new power in the administration of justice. A divine lesson was 
needed — that love is the essence of divinity ; that love, suffering for another, 
is the highest form of love ; that that love, when administered, carries with 
it everj'thing that there is of purity and justice; and not only that love is 
the fulfilling of the law, but that God himself is love." — H. W. Beeclicr. 

" God is great in Sinai. The thunders precede Him, the lightnings attend 
Him, the earth trembles, the mountains fall in fragments. But there is a 
greater God than this. On Calvary, nailed to a cross, wounded, thirsting, 
dying, He cries, 'Father, forgive them, they know not what they do!' 
Great is the religion of power, but greater is the religion of love. Great is 
the religion of implacable justice, but greater is the religion of pardoning 
mercy." — Senor Castclar. 

"And, behold, the vail of the temple was rent in twain." 

"Theodore Parker, in one of his books, so flashingly bright with genius, 
but so awfully dark with infidelity, daringly asks why we cannot go ourselves 
before the All-Father, and speak to Him for ourselves, without talking by 
attorney, and whining about our Brother's name! Ah, he has made a great 
mistake. No, no; you can never get into that holiest place but through 
the rent vail, and you will be shut out for ever if you try to go in any other 
way. It is through Christ, and through Christ alone, that we can get access 
to the Father. I am glad to leave my case with Jesus. I am glad to go to 



130 



TENTH WEEK. 



the Father through my Saviour, and to use His name, which is ever fragrant 
with merit ; but if any man shall go without that name, and should choose 
to stand on the ground of bare justice, he will get justice, and he will not 
get mercy." — S. Coley. 

Closet Promise. — Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay 
down his life for his friends. — John xv. 13. 

" Christianity has no more precious possession than the memory of Jesus 
during the week when He stood face to face with death. Unspeakably 
great as He always was, it may be reverently said that He was never so 
great as during those days of direst calamity. He triumphed over His suf- 
ferings not by the cold severity of a stoic, but by self-forgetting love. — James 
Stalker. 



MONDAY. 

The Burnt Offering. — Lev. i. 1-9. 



1 And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake 
unto him out of the tabernacle of the congrega- 
tion, saying, 

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say 
unto them. If any man of you bring an offering 
unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the 
cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. 

3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the 
herd, let him offer a male without blemish : he 
shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the 
door of the tabernacle of the congregation be- 
fore the Lord. 

4 And he shall put his hand upon the head 
of the burnt-offering ; and it shall be accepted 
for him to make atonement for him. 

5 And he shall kill the bullock before the 



Lord : and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring 
the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about 
upon the altar that is by the door of the taber- 
nacle of the congregation. 

6 And he shall flay the burnt-offering, and cut 
it into his pieces. 

7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put 
fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order 
upon the fire : 

8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the 
parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the 
wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar : 

9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash 
in water: and the priest shall burn all on the 
altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by 
fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. 



It is necessary that we view the five great offerings as a whole, in order 
to get a complete understanding of the significance of each. Each of these 
offerings represents a different phase of our Lord's work in His mediation 
for us with God. We note that the offerings are in two main classes. The 
first class consists of offerings of a "sweet smell," in which there is no sug- 
gestion of sin at all ; but the offering to God of that service which is required 
of man, independent of his sin. These are the Burnt Offering, the Meat 
Offering, and the Peace Offering. The second class is quite different from 
the first. The offerings are two : the Sin Offering, and the Trespass Offer- 
ing. Neither of these are offerings of a sweet smell. God can have no 
pleasure when He is dealing with sin and guilt. 

Let us, to-day, take up the Burnt Offering. This offering was a type of 
Christ as He is described in Eph. v. 2, " He loved us, and gave Himself for 



MONDAY. 



131 



us an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savor." Christ is 
seen in it, both as offerer and sacrifice for us. That is, we identify ourselves 
with Him by offering or laying our hands upon Him, claiming Him as ours, 
and standing with Him as He stands for us. The wliole burnt-offering typi- 
fied the entire surrender of self to God. Its special meaning is that o{ dedi- 
cation. The one who accepts the great sacrifice made by Christ must be, in 
one sense, himself a sacrifice. If Christ becomes his representative in 
heaven, he must become Christ's representative in this world. All that he 
is, and all that he has is the property of Him who bought him with His own 
precious blood. 

One of the best of commentaries upon this offering is Rom. xii. I : " I be- 
seech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your 
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable 
service." " F<7?/r bodies " — not those of bulls or of goats. "A living sacri- 
fice " — not one made incapable by death. " Holy " — the inward parts 
cleansed with the blood of Christ, as those of the old-time sacrifices were 
cleansed with water. "Acceptable to God " — of a " sweet savor " unto Him. 
" Which is your reasonable service " — because of the atonement made for, 
and the dedication of self made by you. 

Closet Promise. — Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a 
price : therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are 
God's. — I Cor. vi. ig, 20. 



' Not your own ! " but His ye are, 
Who hath paid a price untold 
For your life, exceeding far 

All earth's store of gems and gold. 
With the precious blood of Christ, 
Ransom-treasure all unprized, 
Full redemption is procured, 
Full salvation is assured. 



' Not your own ! " but His by right. 

His peculiar treasure now, 
Fair and precious in His sight, 

Purchased jewels for His brow. 
He will keep what thus He sought. 
Safely guard the dearly bought. 
Cherish that which He did choose, 
Always love and never lose. 

— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



TUESDAY. 

The Meat Offering. — Lev. ii. i 



1 And when any will offer a meat offering 
unto the Lord, his offering shall be <p/"fine flour ; 
find he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankin- 
cense thereon. 

2 And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the 
priests: and he shall take thereout his handful 
of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with 
all the frankincense theieof; and the priest shall 
burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to he an 
offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto 
the Lord : 



3 And the remnant of the meat offering shall 
be Aaron's and his sons' : it is a thing most holy 
of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. 

1 1 No meat offering, which ye shall bring 
unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven : for 
ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any 
offering of the Lord made by fire. 

12 f As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye 
shall offer them unto the Lord: but they shall 
not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour. 



132 TENTH WEEK. 

dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full 



13 And every oblation of thy meat offering 
shall thou season with salt; neither shalt thou 
suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be 
lacking from thy meat offering : with all thine 
offerings thou shalt offer salt. 

14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy 
firstfruits unto the Lord, thou shalt offer for the 



15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay 
frankincense thereon : it is a meat offering. 

16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of 
\\., part of the beaten corn thereof, and /<;;•/ of 
the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: 



meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn I it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 

In the Meat Offering we have the thought of a pure and holy walk, and 
service rendered to man. In the two — the Burnt Offering and the Meat 
Offering — we recognize the fulfilment of the requirements of the Law : 
loving God with all our hearts, and our neighbors as ourselves. 

This offering was a grateful acknowledgment of the dependence of man 
upon God for his daily food. A portion of it was given back to God as a 
sign that he was entitled to the whole. And thus in the meat-offering 
appears the idea of consecration. 

The meat offering had to be prepared in a certain way in order to be ac- 
ceptable. I. It was to be unleavened. Leaven meant corruption. Noth- 
ing of that could enter into the idea of consecration to God. Beware of the 
" leaven of hypocrisy." 2. It was to be " mingled with oil." And oil is a 
symbol of divine grace. It is by divine grace that men are enabled to make 
the dedication of themselves to God — it is by divine grace that they are 
enabled to keep the vow which they thus have made. 3. " He shall — put 
frankincense thereon." Incense represents prayer. A consecration unac- 
companied by prayer is no consecration at all. 4. " The meat-offering shalt 
thou season with salt." That, in the same passage, is termed, " the salt of 
the covenant." The flavor of the covenant enters into all dedicatory 
pledges. The act of consecration on the part of man, and the acceptance of 
the consecration on the part of God, imply the existence of covenant rela- 
tions between them. 

Closet Promise. — Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with 
benefits. — Psalm Ixviii. 19. 

And to be true, and speak my soul, when I survey the occurrences of my 
life, and call into account the finger of God, I can perceive nothing but an 
abyss and mass of mercies, either in general to mankind, or in particular to 
myself; and whether out of the prejudice of my affection, or an inverting 
and partial conceit of His mercies, I know not; but those which others term 
crosses, afflictions, judginents, misfortunes, to me, who inquire farther into 
them than their visible effects, they both appear, and in event have ever 
proved, the secret and dissembled favors of His affection. — Sir T. Browne. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 
And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying. — Maa. v. 
133 



TENTH WEEK. 133 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Peace Offering.— Lev. vii. 11-18. 

11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of j offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the 
peace-offerings, which he shall offer unto the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave 
Lord. any of it until the morning. ♦ 

12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he | 16 But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, 
shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving un- : or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the 
leavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleav- same day that he offereth his sacrifice ; and on 
ened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes min- the morrow also the remainder of it shall be 
gled with oil, of fine flour, fried. eaten : 

13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his 17 But the remainder of the flesh of the sacri- 
offering Icvened bread with the sacrifice of fice on the third day shall be burnt with fire, 
thanksgiving of his peace-offerings. ' 18 And if any man of the flesh of the sacrifice 

14 And of it he shall offer oneout of the whole of his peace-ofi'erings be eaten at all on the 
oblation for a heave offering unto the Lord, and third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall 
it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood it be imputed unto him that offereth it : it shall 
of the peace-offerings. ; be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it 

15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace- , shall bear his iniquity. 

There were three kinds of Peace-offerings. I. Thanksgiving-offering. 
Offered in gratitude for mercies received. 2. Voiv-offcring. Presented in 
connection with a vow conditioned upon receiving some special divine favor. 
3. Voluntary -offering. A sacrifice without special occasion, but offered as 
the tribute of a devout heart rejoicing in its relations of peace with God. 
The 7node and cojiditions of sacrificing the Peace-offerings are laid down in 
chapter iii. 

In the Peace-offering, the leading thought is the commnnion of the wor- 
shipper. It was not here as in the burnt-offering, Christ enjoyed exclusively 
by God, but the worshipper feasting upon Christ in communion with God. 
The offering was shared between the altar, the priest, and the offerer. " That 
is, the picture presented to us here is of the believer coming to God to be 
filled with Christ, to have his thoughts occupied with Christ, and his mouth 
filled with His praises. Many souls have access to God who do not have 
communion. They come full of themselves, and their own needs, and all they 
have to say is about their feelings, or their sins, or their trials. It is all self, 
self, self But communion means to dwell upon and delight in that which 
God dwells upon and delights in. And this can never be anything in or 
about ourselves, but always and only things pertaining to His well-beloved 
Son. Only the clean could partake of this offering, Lev. vii. 20, 2i ; and 
only the Christian whose heart is purified by faith can enter into this blessed 
communion. ' If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fel- 
lowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth 
us from all sin,' i John i. 7. This is, I believe, the New Testament state- 
ment of the truth typified in the Peace-offering." 



134 



TENTH WEEK. 



Closet Promise. — If a man love Me, he will keep My words : and My 
Father will love him, and We will come Unto him, and make Our abode with 
him. — ^John xiv. 23. 



" He has come ! He has come ! My Redeemer 

has come ! 
He has taken my heart as His own chosen 

home. 
At last I have given the welcome He sought. 
He has come, ^nd His coming all. gladness has 

brought. 



" He has come to abide, and holy must be 
The place where my Lord deigns to banquet 

with me ; 
And this is my prayer : Lord, since Thou art 

come, 
Make meet for Thy presence my heart as Thy 

home!" 



THURSDAY. 

The Sin-Offering. — Lev. iv. 1-12. 



1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying. 
If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any 
of the commandments of the Lord cotueniing 
things which ought not to be done, and shall do 
against any of them : 

3 If the priest that is anointed do sin accord- 
ing to the sin of the people ; then let him bring 
for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bul- 
lock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin- 
offering. 

4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the 
door of the tabernacle of the congregation be- 
fore the Lord ; and shall lay his hand upon the 
bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the 
Lord. 

5 And the priest that is anointed shall take 
of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the taber- 
nacle of the congregation : 

6 And the priest shall dip his finger in the 
blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times be- 
fore the Lord, before the vail of the sanctuary. 

7 And the priest shall put some of the blood 
upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense be- 



fore the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the 
congregation ; and shall pour all the blood of 
the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the 
burnt-offering, which is at the door of the taber- 
nacle of the congregation. 

8 And he shall take off from it all the fat of 
the bullock for the sin-offering; the fat that 
covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon 
the inwards, 

9 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is 
upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul 
above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take 
away, 

10 As it was taken off from the bullock of the 
sacrifice of peace-offerings : and the priest shall 
burn them upon the altar of the burnt-offering. 

11 And the skin of the bullock, and all his 
flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his 
inwards, and his dung, 

12 Even the whole bullock shall he carry 
forth without the camp unto a clean place, where 
the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the 
wood with fire : where the ashes are poured out 
shall he be burnt. 



The Sin-offering was for " sins of ignorance," or involuntary sins. The 
sin hidden to man is not hidden to God, and while He can forgive every- 
thing, He can let nothing pass. The sin-offering is a type of Christ bearing 
our sins in His own body on the tree. As we read in 2 Cor. vi. 21, " For 
He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be 
made the righteousness of God in Him." " It is the especial aspect of sin in 
us, that is here brought out, the sin of our nature. What we are, rather 
than what we do. And it teaches us plainly, that it is not our own con- 
science, nor our measure of light, but the truth of God, that is the standard 
by which sin is to be measured. But it also teaches that in the atonement 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect provision is made for it all. 

In the Sin-offering we come to \ht blood. " When the Sin-offering was 



THURSDAY. 



135 



presented, a portion of blood was offered to the Lord by being put on the 
horns of the altar, and the rest, except on certain occasions, was poured 
away at the base of the altar. The blood was the life : to offer the blood 
was typically to die : in emblem the sinner slew himself" 

Closet Promise. — And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the 
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous : and He is the propitiation for our sins : 
and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world. — i John 
ii. I. 2. 



Before the cross of Christ in prayer 
The soul may leave its load of care ; 
And whatsoe'er its guilt may be, 
Secure a Saviour's pardon free. 

None may despair ; His latest breath, 
In the strong agony of death, 
Mingled with Mercy's accents true — 
" Forgive ; they know not what they do.' 

Even for hands that caused to start 
The life-blood from his breaking heart, 
His soul with gracious pity moved — ■ 
God's sign how fallen man was loved. 



And we who, though not in the flesh, 
Have crucified the Lord afresh. 
Have press'd the thorns about His brow — 
O ! dare we sue for mercy now ? 

And is His voice, with accents sweet, 
Still pleading at the mercy-seat? 
Still lives He there to intercede 
For all who feel a Saviour's need ? 

Yes, seraphs in the light above 
Record the triumphs of His love; 
Still He forgives, as none forgave, 
The soul that trusts His power to save . 

— Rowland Brown. 



FRIDAY. 

The Trespass-Offering. — Lev. vi. 1-7. 



1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 

2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against 
the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour in that 
which was delivered him to keep, or in fellow- 
ship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or 
hath deceived his neighbour ; 

3 Or have found that which was lost, and 
lieih concerning it, and sweareth falsely ; in 
any of all these that a man doeth, sinning 
therein : 

4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, 
and is guilty, that he shall restore that which 
he took violently away, or the thing which he 
hatli deceitfully gotten, or that which was 



delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which 

he found, 

5 Or all that about which he hath sworn 
falsely ; he shall even restore it in the princi- 
pal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, 
a«^/give it unto him to whom it appertaineth ; 
in the day of his trespass-offering. 

6 And he shall bring his trespass-offering 
unto the Lord, a ram without blemish out of 
the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass-of- 
fering, unto the priest : 

7 And the priest shall make an atonement 
for him before the Lord: and it shall be for- 
given him for any thing of all that he hath done 
in trespassing therein. 



The trespass-offering was an offering for sins of wrong-doing, either to- 
wards God or towards man. The sin-offering recognizes the inherent sin- 
fulness of our nature, while the trespass-offering takes account of our trans- 
gressions or actual sins. It is not so much here what a man was, as what 
he did which is considered, his acts of sin ; and, therefore, this offering was 
accompanied with restitution on the part of the sinner. He was not only 
forgiven, but he was to " restore that which he took violently away, or the 



136 TENTH WEEK. 

thing which he hath deceitfully gotten." This signifies, first, the blessed 
truth that " where sin abounded," and even because sin abounded, " grace 
did much more abound." And also teaches us that forgiveness is not the 
whole of salvation, but righteousness must accompany it. 

" To me the one grand lesson of the offerings is to be found in the constant 
repetition of the declaration, 'and it shall be forgiven him.' No room was 
left for doubt here. God said it, and the question was settled. No Israelite 
could look inside at his own feelings to settle this question, nor outside at 
his life. The one only point was, had he brought the offering, and had it 
been consumed on the altar ? If so, then he was forgiven, whether he felt 
it or not, and we cannot imagine an Israelite entertaining a doubt on the 
subject. Had such a thing occurred, I cannot but think that the friends and 
neighbors of the unfortunate man, and, in fact, the whole nation, would have 
been horrified at such presumption. ' Do you dare to doubt God's word ? ' 
they would have asked. 'Are your feelings to be put in opposition to His 
express declaration?' But if they could be thus sure of forgiveness, who 
only offered a bullock, or a lamb, or a turtle dove, surely we, for whom 
Christ has been offered, ought to be infinitely more sure ; and doubts with 
us should be even more summarily dealt with. May the type teach this 
all-important lesson 1 " — //. W. S. 

Closet Promise. — In His love and in His pity He redeemed them. — 
Isa. Ixiii. 9. 

For those who have done wrong to any degree there is yet a place in 
God's heart. For those who have sought to break away from wrong and 
met with the poorest success, there is a place of mercy and pity with God. 
For those who have tried to reform — not once, but twice, and thrice, and 
many times — and broken solemn resolutions and obligations — there is divine 
leniency. For those who have given God occasion to draw his sword of 
judgment and smite them asunder, there is hope of salvation if only they 
are willing to be subdued and led by the infinitude of divine goodness. If 
they love sin and mean to sin, there is no grace for them ; but, if sinning, 
their heart abhors sin, and if, in their better moments, they abjure it, and, 
like the apostle, they cry out, " Who shall deliver me from the body of this 
death ? " there is grace for them. For all those who will repent, there is 
room for repentance, and help for repentance, and succor during reforma- 
tion. — H. W. Bcccher. 



TENTH WEEK. 



137 



SATURDAY- 
GOD'S Two Great Books. — Psalm xix. 



1 The heavens declare the glory of God ; and 
the firmament sheweth his handywork. 

2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night 
unto night sheweth knowledge. 

3 There is no speech nor language, where 
their voice is not heard. 

4 Their line is gone out through all the 
earth, and their words to the end of the world. 
In them has he set a tabernacle for the sun, 

5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of 
his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to 
run a race. 

6 His going forth is from the end of the 
heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it : 
and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting 
the soul : the testimony of the Lord is sure, 
making wise the simple. 

8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoic- 



ing the heart : the commandment of the Lord 
is pure, enlightening the eyes. 

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring 
for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true 
and righteous altogether. 

10 More to be desired are they than gold, 
yea, than much fine gold : sweeter also than 
honey and the honeycomb. 

1 1 Moreover by them is thy servant warned : 
and in keeping of them there is great reward. 

12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse 
thou me from stcrti faults. 

13 Keep back thy servant also from pre- 
sumptuous si7zs ; let them not have dominion 
over me : then shall I be upright, and I shall be 
innocent from the great transgression. 

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the 
meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy 
sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. 



God has two sorts of books, as David intimates in this Psalm : Nature 
and Scripture. " He is wisest who reads both the World-book and the 
Word-book as two volumes of the same work, and feels concerning them, 
' My Father wrote them both.' " 

The last verse of this Psalm is a sweet prayer, and so spiritual that it is 
almost as commonly used in Christian worship as the apostolic benediction. 

" David could not bear it that a word or a thought of his should miss ac- 
ceptation with God. It did not satisfy him that his actions were well wit- 
nessed unto men on earth, unless his very thoughts were witnessed to by 
the Lord in heaven." — Joseph Caryl. 

" The best of men have their failing, and an honest Christian may be a 
weak one ; but weak as he may be, the goodness and the sincerity of his 
heart will entitle him to put the petition of this verse, which no hypocrite or 
cunning deceiver can ever make use of" — Thomas Sherlock. 

Closet Promise.— Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and He shall give 
thee the desires of thy heart. — Psalm xxxvii. 4. 

We often hear this promise quoted without its conditional precept. But 
we have no right thus to quote it. On our knees before God let us examine 
ourselves as to every part of this condition. Perhaps here has been 
our trouble. 



138 TENTH WEEK. 



Oh, blessed life ! — the heart at rest 
When all without tumultuous seems — 
That trusts a higher will, and deems 

That higher v/ill, not mine, the best. 



Oh, blessed life ! — heart, mind, and soul, 
From self-born aims and wishes free, 
In all at one with Deity, 

And loyal to the Lord's control. 

— IV. T. Mats on. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the 
tree of life. — Rev. ii. 7. 

Weekly Proverb. — Since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not 
away an hour. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SCENES IN THE LIFE OF ELIJAH. 

Sunday. — Elijah Fed by the Ravens. — I Kings xvii. 1-16. 

Monday. — Elijah Works a Miracle. — i Kings xvii. 17-24. 

Tuesday. — Elijah before Ahab. — I Kings xviii. 1-16. 

Wednesday. — Halting between Two Opinions. — i Kings xviii. 17-40. 

Thursday. — The Sound of Rain. — I Kings xviii. 41-46. 

Friday. — The Still Small Voice. — i Kings xix. 1-18. 

Saturday. — Elijah's Ascent to Heaven. — 2 Kings ii. i-ii. 



TRUANTS. 



When the sun was tired and slipped behind a 

cloud, 
All the little rain-drops gathered in a crowd, 
Whispering together, " He will never know. 
Let us take a holiday. Let us fall below." 



When the sun was rested and wandered out he 

found 
All the little rain-drops fallen to the ground. 
" Well," he thought, " I'm sorry, but I'll try to 

smile. 
That will bring them back again in a little 

while." — Selected. 



Be courteous. — i Pet. iii. 8. 

I want to talk once more on this saine text. I think it very important! 
One of the best ways to be courteous is to be polite. Did you ever see a 
well-dressed boy or girl compel a woman carrying a big basket or bundle to 
step off the sidewalk ? I have ; and I have said to myself at such a sight, 
" You haven't a particle of politeness in you. If you had, you would pity 
that burdened woman and get out of her way." If I have such an impolite 
boy or girl among my readers, I wish they would learn a lesson from the 
following incident : Two boys, the one a gentleman's son and the other the 
son of a poor widow, applied to a merchant for a situation, but the latter 
was chosen. Why? I will tell you. Just as the two boys came in, a poor 
ragged girl fell on the icy sidewalk, and lost her pennies, and cried bitterly. 
The first boy lauglied rudely ; but the other helped her up, and, fishing in 
the gutter for the pennies, found one, and replaced the other from his own 




THE NEGLIGENT BOY. 

140 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 141 

purse. The merchant observed all ; and, although the first had strong let- 
ters of recommendation, and the other none, the poor boy's politeness se- 
cured him the place. It always pays to be polite. A little girl said she had 
found a new key to unlock people's hearts. It was the little word "Please." 
It is a key that fits the lock of everybody's heart. 



THE NEGLIGENT BOY. 

The Bible teaches us to obey our parents. That means, w& are to mind 
what they tell us, and do it. The " Negligent Boy " has not done that. 
When his mother, who told him to take care of the baby, was out of sight, 
he laid the baby down on the ground and went to playing marbles. Now, 
when his mother comes with whip in hand to punish him, how frightened 
he is ! 

I once read of a mother who was going on the train from New York to 
Ohio. She had with her two children, a boy and a girl. The children 
didn't seem to mind much what their mother said. After a while she 
opened a basket, and drew out a rope, about a yard long, and as thick as 
one's little finger. It had a knot on each end of it; and she doubled it up, 
and held it in her hand, and shook it at the children whenever she told them 
to do anything. She would say: "John, sit down there," and shake the 
rope at him. Down John would sit. " Mary, move over into that other 
seat." Mary obeyed instantly. She knew what would come if she didn't. 
Now, these children obeyed their mother, but did they honor her ? No. 
They didn't honor their mother; they honored the rope. That kind of 
obedience might be called rope's-end obedience. It isn't good for much. The 
motive that leads to it is the fear of punishment. This is a wrong motive. 
We ought to obey our parents, because it is the will of God that we do so ; 
and because we love them. These are proper motives. 



ELEVENTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Well done, thou good and faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a 
few things, I will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. — Matt. 
XXV. 21. 



Far better in its place the lowliest bird 

Should sing aright to Him its lowliest song 



Than that a seraph strayed should take the word 
And sing his praises wrong. — Jean Ingelow, 



Christ seeketh your help in your place ; give Him your hand. — Ruther- 
ford. 

True devotion consists in doing all God's will precisely at the time, in the 
situation, and under the circumstances He has placed us. — Fenelon. 

He is a good wagoner that can turn in a little room. To live well in 
abundance, is the praise of the estate, not of the person. I will study how 
to give a good account of my little, rather than how to make it more. — 
Bishop Hall. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The White-Robed Throng. — Rev. vii. 9-17. 



unto me, What are these which are arrayed in 
white robes ? and whence came they ? 

14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. 
And he said to me. These are they which came 
out of great tribulation, and have washed their 
robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb. 

15 Therefore are they before the throne of 
God, and serve him day and nis^'ht in his temple : 
and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell 
among them. 

16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst 
any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, 
nor any heat. 

17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
living fountains of waters: and Gi>d shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes. 

A minister of the Gospel was one day visiting a pious old woman who 
was in the poor-house. While conversing with her on the comforts, pros- 
pects, and rewards of religion, he saw an unusual lustre beaming from her 
countenance, and the calmness of Christian triumph glistening in her eye. 
Addressing her by name, he said : " Will you tell me what thought it was 
that passed through your mind which was the cause of your appearing so 
(142) 



9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multi- 
tude, which no man could numlier, of all nations, 
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood 
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed 
with white robes, and palms in their hands ; 

ID And cried with a loud voice, saying, Sal- 
vation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb. 

1 1 And all the angels stood round about the 
throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, 
and fell l)efore the throne on their faces, and 
worshipped God, 

12 Saying, Amen : Blessing, and glory, and 
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and 
power, and might, be unto our God for ever and 
ever. Amen. 

13 And one of the elders answered, saying 



SUNDAY. 1 43 

joyful?" The reply was, "Oh, sir, I was just thinking what a change it 
will be from the poor-house to heaven ! " 

" No man can guard himself against suffering in a world that is sin-smitten 
and shrouded with troubles; in a world where God educates men by trials 
and afflictions ; in a world where there is an endless funeral march, and 
where sorrow beats the drum to which all men in the procession keep step. 
In such a world men must suffer, and suffer to the end. But oh, the cleans- 
ing of suffering ! God grant that we may have the cleansing, and not the 
baptism alone. God grant that there may be such a cleansing that by-and- 
by, in some future world, another revelator shall stand and see you and 
yours shouting in the throng of ineffable glory, and, being asked, ' Who 
are these, and whence came they ? ' shall say of them and you, ' These are 
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and 
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.' " — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were 
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I 
go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto my- 
self; that where I am, there ye may be also. — John xiv. 2, 3. 



My heart is turning homeward. Each red sun 
That sets behind the mountains, brings to 
mind 
My Father's house ; where, when the journey's 
done, 
These pilgrim footsteps shall sweet resting 
find; 
Oh ! sunless, moonless city ! — yet so bright ! 
Thy Maker and thy Builder is thy light ! 

Often, in blessed dreams, I hear the flow 
Of the life river thro' thy golden street; 

I hear the voice of harpers, with their harps 
Forever praising at Jehovah's feet ; 

I see thy jasper walls, so high and fair, 

Thy twelve pearl gates — the angel watchers 
there. 

All thy foundations are of precious stones, 
Thou wondrous dwelling of the saved and 
blest ! 



Where saints and martyrs blend in joyous tones 

Great triumph-songs of glory and of rest; 
City of many mansions ! 'tis in thee 
Mine Elder Brother keeps a place for me. 

He, who went down to darkest depths of woe, 
Who left the Father's bosom for my sake ; 

Whose matchless love no seraph tongue may 
show, 
Who slept in death that I to life might wake, 

My risen Lord, my Saviour, and my King, 

Shall His redeemed unto His city bring. 

Oh! blessed thought of comfort; each swift day 

But brings me nearer to my heart's dear 

home; 

Then shall the former things have passed away. 

To that high noon no evening shadows come; 

Pass on, brief earthly hours ! — or dark or bright 

I question not — the end is peace and light. 

— Mrs. Lizzie Feniier Baker. 



MONDAY. 

The Cry of the Hunted Soul.— Psalm cxl. 



1 Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man : 
preserve me from the violent man ; 

2 Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; 
continually are they gathered togetheryor war. 

3 They have sharpened their tongues like a 



serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. 
Selah. 

4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of tbe 
wicked ; preserve me from the violent man ; 
who have purposed to overthrow my goings. 



144 



ELEVENTH WEEK. 



5 The proud have hid a snare for me, and 
cords ; they have spread a net by the way side ; 
they have set gins for me. Selah. 

6 I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God : 
hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord. 

7 O God the Lord, the strength of my salva- 
tion, thou hast covered my head in the day of 
battle. 

8 Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the 
wicked : further not his wicked device ; lest they 
exalt themselves. Selah. 

9 As for the head of those that compass me 



about, let the mischief of their own lips cover 
them. 

10 Let burning coals fall upon them : let 
them be cast into the fire ; into deep pits, that 
they rise not up again. 

11 Let not an evil speaker be established in 
the earth : evil shall hunt tlie violent man to 
overthrow him. 

12 I know that the Lord will maintain the 
cause of the afflicted, and Skv^ right of the poor. 

13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto 
thy name : the upright shall dwell in thy pres- 



" David was hunted like a partridge upon the mountains, and seldom ob- 
tained a moment's rest. This is his pathetic appeal to Jehovah for protec- 
tion, an appeal which gradually intensifies into a denunciation of his bitter 
foes. With this sacrifice of prayer he ofifers the salt of faith ; for in a very 
marked and emphatic manner he expresses his personal confidence in the 
Lord as the Protector of the oppressed, and as his own God and Defender. 
Few short psalms are so rich in the jewelry of precious faith." — C. H. 
Spurgeon. 

The persecuted man turns to God in prayer ; he could not do a wiser 
thing. It is a common thing for good men to be assailed by enemies : David 
was attacked by Saul, Doeg, Ahithophel, Shimei, and others ; even Morde- 
cai sitting humbly in the gate had his Haman ; and our Lord, the Perfect 
One, was surrounded by those who thirsted for His blood. We may not, 
therefore, hope to pass through the world without enemies, but we may hope 
to h(? delivered out of their hands, and preserved from their rage, so that no 
real harm shall come of their malignity. This blessing is to be sought by 
prayer, and expected by faith. 

Closet Promise. — Through God we shall do valiantly : for He it is that 
shall tread down our enemies. — Psalm Ix. 12. 



Mr. Spurgeon says : " Whether we meet the foe in the open field or leap 
upon them while they lurk behind the battlements of a city, we shall by 
God's grace defeat them in either case ; if they hem us in with living legions, 
or environ us within stone walls, we shall with equal certainty obtain our 
liberty. Such feats we have already performed, hewing our way at a run 
through hosts of difficulties, and scaling impossibilities at a leap. God's 
warriors may expect to have a taste of every form of fighting, and must, by 
the power of faith, determine to quit themselves like men, but it behooves 
them to be very careful to lay all their laurels at Jehovah's feet, each one of 
them saying, ' By my God ' have I wrought this valiant deed. Our spoila 




PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which 
look their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. — Matt. xxv. I. 



MONDAY. 



147 



optima, the trophies of our conflicts, we hereby dedicate to the God of battles, 
and ascribe to Him all glory and strength." 



TUESDAY. 

A Wonderful Promise. — Joel ii. 18-32. 



18 *[f Then will the Lord be jealous for his 
land, and pity his people. 

19 Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto 
his people. Behold, I will send you corn, and 
wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith : 
and I will no more make you a reproach among 
the heathen : 

20 But I will remove far off from you the 
northern army, and will drive him into a land 
barren and desolate, with his face toward the 
east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost 
sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill 
savour shall come up, because he hath done 
great things. 

21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: 
for the Lord will do great things. 

22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field ; for 
the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the 
tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine 
do yield their strength. 

23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and re- 
joice in the Lord your God : for he hath given 
you the former rain moderately, and he will 
cause to come down for you the rain, the former 
rain, and the latter rain in the first 7noitth. 

24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and 
the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. 

25 And I will restore to you the years that 
the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the 



caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great 
army which I sent among you. 

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satis- 
fied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, 
that hath dealt wondrously with you : and my 
people shall never be ashamed. 

27 And ye shall know that I a7n in the midst 
of Israel, and thai I am the Lord your God, 
and none else : and my people shall never be 
ashamed. 

28 \ And it shall come to pass afterward, that 
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; and 
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 
your old men shall dream dreams, your young 
men shall see visions: 

29 And also upon the servants and upon the 
handmaids in those days will I pour out my 
Spirit. 

30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens 
and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of 
smoke. 

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, 
and the moon into blood, before the great and 
the terrible day of the Lord come. 

32 And it shall come to pass, ///(t/ whosoever 
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be de- 
livered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem 
shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and 
in the remnant whom the LoRD shall call. 



" I will pour out my Spirit. upon all flesh " (ver. 28). 
. The preceding part of the Book of Joel is taken up with a prediction 
relative to a great judgment that was to descend upon Judah in the shape 
of a large army of locusts. The desolation that it was to cau.se is vividly 
depicted in chapter i. ; and in chapter ii. the coming of that host is set forth 
with wonderful-power. It is well worth reading simply as a poetical gem. 
In view of this impending judgment, Joel urges the priests to call a solemn 
assembly, to gird themselves with sackcloth, to proclaim a solemn fast, to 
turn to the Lord with all their hearts, and to beseech Him to spare His 
heritage. 

If this be sincerely done, then he assures them that their punishment shall 
be stayed ; and further, that a greater blessing still is in store for them — a 
spiritual experience such as never had been known. 

"And it shall come to pass afterwards!' " To us," says Otto Schmoller, 
" the Afterward has become Now," and, he sadly adds, " To many it is only 



i-^S: 



148 



ELEVENTH WEEK. 



a Once, a Formerly ! " We shall lose the main benefit of the study of 
prophecy unless we keep in mind the fact that what was to the prophets a 
mere vision is to us, in many instances, actual history. And this particular 
prediction was not exhausted by the outpouring upon the day of Pentecost, 
but is still manifest in gracious showers of divine grace wherever the people 
are ready to receive such copious manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The 
Spirit does not come except to those who long for His coming. " I will 
pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground " (Isa. 
xliv. 3). This divine rain never comes upon any soul that is not parched 
with desire to receive it — and it never fails to come to him who cries out for 
it because of his spiritual drought. It is not a " Once," nor a " Formerly," 
but a " Now " — as any one can test for himself 

Closet Promise. — For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need 
of all these things. — Matt. vi. 32. 

Nobody else knows as God knows. He knows hundreds of things that 
nobody else can know. He knows many things that nobody else ought to 
know. He knows many experiences that you will not tell, and many that 
you do not understand. Naked and open are you before Him with whom 
you have to do. There is no sorrow so deep, there is no darkness so pro- 
found, there is no complication of circumstances so entangling, but that you 
may say, " There is nothing that affects me which my heavenly Father does 
not know." — H. W. Beecher. 

WEDNESDAY. 

"Fishers of Men." — Luke v. i-ii. 



1 And it came to pass, that, as the people 
pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he 
stood by the lake of Gennesaret. 

2 And saw two ships standing by the lake : 
but the fishermen were gone out of them, and 
were washing their nets. 

3 And he entered into one of the ships, 
which was Simon's, and prayed him that he 
would thrust out a little from the land. And 
he sat down, and taught the people out of the 
ship. 

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said 
unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let 
down your nets for a draught. 

5 And Simon answering said unto him. Mas- 
ter, we have toiled all the night, and have taken 
nothing; nevertheless at thy word I will let 
down the net. 

6 And when they had this done, they inclosed 



a great multitude of fishes: and their net 
brake. 

7 And they beckoned unto their partners, 
which were in the other ship, that they should 
come and help them. And they came, and 
filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 

8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at 
Jesus' knees, saying. Depart from me ; for I am 
a sinful man, O Lord. 

9 For he was astonished, and all that were 
with him, at the draught of the fishes which 
they had taken. 

10 And so was also James, and John, the 
sons of Zebedee. which were partners with 
Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fe.ir not; 
from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 

11 And when they had brought their ships 
to land, they forsook all, and followed him. 



WEDNESDAY. 



149 



In this parable we have the three F's — Faihire, Faith and Fortune. 

I. Faihire — " Toiled — nothing." They toiled hard — dropping their nets 
and drawing them up again, empty. Failure. "And this is the word which 
many pastors and Christian workers may feel themselves obliged to write 
underneath many of their undertakings and efforts. But God holds us re- 
sponsible only for duties, never for results." — T. L. Cuyler. 

II. Faith. — " Nevertheless, at Thy word," etc. " There spake out a reso- 
lute and a rel\'ing Faith. Faith set the bow of Peter's little smack right 
towards the deep water, and then laid hold of the oar. This is precisely 
the same thing which we pastors, and Sunday-school teachers, and parents 
must do straightway. Invite Jesus into our undertakings, for we cannot fail 
if He is with us in the boat. Then let us pull out into the deep water of 
thorough, conscientious, faithful work. The fish are in the deep water, not 
near the shore." — T. L. Cuyler. 

III. Fortune. Lo, a multitude of fishes. The net breaking. The other 
smack comes up and saves the load. The loaded boats are pulled ashore, 
and the happy day's work ends in z.fiilness of blessing. 

Closet Promise. — Let us not be weary in well doing : for in due season 
we shall reap, if we faint not. — Gal. vi. 9. 



— Though to-day may not fulfill 
All thy hopes, have patience still ; 



For perchance to-morrow's sun 
Sees thy happier days begun. 

—P. Gerhart. 



THURSDAY. 

A Penitential Psalm. — Psalm xxv. 



1 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 

2 O my God, I trust in thee : let me not be 
ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over 
me. 

3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed : 
let them be ashamed which transgress without 
cause. 

4 Shew me thy way?, O Lord ; teach me 
thy paths. 

5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for 
thou art \\\t. God of my s.lvation; on thee do 
I wait all the day. 

6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies 
and thy lovingkindnesses ; for they have been 
ever of old. 

7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor 
my transgressions : according to thy mercy 
remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O 
Lord. 

8 Good and upright /,f the Lord: therefore 
will he teach sinners in the \va) . 



9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and 
the meek will he teach his way. 

10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and 
truth unto such as keep his covenant and his 
testimonies. 

11 For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon 
mine iniquity ; for it is great. 

12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? 
him shall he teath in the way that he shall 
choose. 

13 His soul shall dwell at ease ; and his seed 
shall inherit the earth. 

14 The secret of the Lord is with them that 
fear him.; and he will shew them his cove- 
nant. 

15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord ; for 
he shall pluck my feet out of the net. 

16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon 
me ; for I am desolate and afflicted. 

17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: 
O bring thou me out of my distresses. 



150 



ELEVENTH WEEK. 



iS Look upon mine affliction and my pain ; 21 l,tt integrity and upiightness preserve 

and forgive all my sins. me ; for I wait on thee. 

19 Consider mine enemies; for they are 22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his 
many; and ihey hate me with cruel hatred. troubles. 

20 Oh keep my soul, and deliver me : let me 
not be ashamed ; for I put my trust in thee. 

This is the second of the seven Penitential P.salms. " It is the mark of a 
true saint that his sorrows remind him of his sins, and his sorrow for sin 
drives him to his God." 

Our ej'es instinctively fix themselves upon that familiar 14th verse — " The 
secret of the Lord is with them that fear him ; and he will shew them his 
covenant." 

" Some read it 'the friendship:' it signifies familiar intercourse, confidential 
intimacy, and select fellowship. This is a great secret. Carnal minds can- 
not guess what is intended by it, and even believers cannot explain it in 
words, for it must be felt to be known." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" The truth and sincerity of God to his people appears in the openness and 
plainness of his heart to them. A friend that is close and reserved, deservedly 
comes under a cloud in the thoughts of his friend ; but he who carries, as 
it were, a window of crystal in his breast, through which his friend inay read 
what thoughts are writ in his very heart, delivers himself from the least 
suspicion of unfaithfulness. Truly, thus open-hearted is God to his saints," 
— William Giirnall. 



Closet Promise. - 

Heb, vii. 25. 



-He ever liveth to make intercession for them. — 



Jesus is always near us, and we may always lift our hearts to Him in 
prayer, and He will plead for us before our Father. Wonderful compassion ! 
the Son of God pleading our feeble petitions ! Through Him alone can we 
hope to secure an answer to our prayers, but if we only ask believing, all 
things shall be given unto us. 



FRIDAY. 

Power td Forgive. — Mark ii. 1-17. 



1 And again he entered into Capernaum after 
sotne days; and it was noised that he was in 
the house. 

2 And straightway many were gathered to- 
gether, insomuch that there was no room to re- 
ceive them, no, not so much as about the door: 
and he pi-eached the word unto them. 

3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick 
of the palsy, which was borne of four. 

4 And when they could not come nigh unto 
him for the press, they uncovered the roof where 



he was: and when they had broken it up, they 
let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy 
lay. 

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto 
the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven 
thee. 

6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting 
there, and reasoning in their hearts, 

7 Why doth this 77ian thus speak blasphe- 
mies ? who can forgive sins but God only ? 

8 And immediately, when Jesus perceived in 



AY. 151 

14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son 
of Alpheus sitting at the receipt of custom, and 
said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and 
followed him. 

15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at 
meat in his house, many publicans and sinners 
sat also together with Jesus and his disciples ; 
for there were many, and they followed him. 

16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw 
him eat with publicans and sinners, they said 
unto his disciples. How is it that he eateth and 
drinketh with publicans and sinners ? 

17 When Jesus heard zV, he saith unto them. 
They that are whole have no need of the physi- 
cian, but they that are sick : I came not to call 
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 



his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, 
he said unto them. Why reason ye these things 
in your hearts? 

9 Whether is it easier, to say to the sick of 
the palsy. Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say. 
Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk ? 

10 But that ye may know that the Son of man 
hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to 
the sick of the palsy,) 

III say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy 
bed, and go thy way unto thine house. 

12 And immediately he arose, took up the 
bed, and went forth before them all ; insomuch 
that they were all amazed, and glorified God, 
saying. We never saw it on this fashion. 

13 ^ And he went forth again by the sea side ; 
and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he 
taught them. 

What encouragement there is in this lesson for us to try and bring our 
friends to Christ ! Observe that it was iheir faith ! No doubt the man him- 
self had faith, but it was to their faith that Jesus made response. The let- 
ting down of the mat, with its pinched and shrunken burden, the uncovered 
roof, the eager faces around the jagged opening, all told most eloquently of 
the faith which had animated them. All this made an appeal which the 
Saviour could not resist — nay, to which He loved to respond. Not less 
ready is Jesus to answer such faith now. Let any one have the faith that is 
undiscouraged by obstacles, and that will work to bring its loved ones into 
the presence of the Saviour, and, seeing such faith. He will say as He did 
then, " Son, thy sins are forgiven." 

How glorious is the manifestation of the divine feeling ! God is on the 
side of sinners for the purposes of rescue. Jesus sat at meat with publicans 
and sinners. While He rebuked the proud, haughty, and hard-hearted 
Pharisees, with what tenderness did He address those who stood in dark- 
ness, and throw upon them the first ray of light, doubtless, that they had re- 
ceived from the day that they forsook their father's and mother's house. 
" There is more beauty, more royalty, more divinity in the way in which 
Christ treated the poor sinning woman who knelt at His feet, then there is 
in the conception of God sitting crowned with light upon the white throne 
of the eternal heavens." — H. W. Beecher. 



Closet Promise. — I will forgive their iniquity, and 
sin no more. — Jer. xxxi. 34. 



will remember their 



' My sins, my sins, my Saviour, 
They take such hold on me, 

I am not able to look up. 
Save only, Christ, to thee : 



" In thee is all forgiveness, 
In thee abundant grace. 
My shadow and my sunshine 
The brightness of thy face. 



152 



ELEVENTH WEEK. 



' Therefore my songs, my Saviour, 

E'en in this lime of woe, 

Shall tell of all thy goodness 

To sinful man below — 



■ Thy goodness and thy favor. 
Whose presence from above 

Rejoice those hearts, my Saviour, 
That live in thee and love." 



SATURDAY. 

Evil Speaking. — ^Jamesiv. 



1 From whence come wars and fightings 
among you ? come they not hence, even of your 
lusts that war in your members ? 

2 Ye lust, and have not : ye kill, and desire 
to have, and cannot obtain : ye fight and war, 
yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask 
amiss, that ye may consume ii upon your lusts. 

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not 
that the friendship of the world is enmity with 
God ? whosoever therefore will be a friend of 
the world is the enemy of God. 

5 Do ye think that the Scriptures saith in 
vain. The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to 
envy ? 

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he 
saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace 
unto the humble. 

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist 
the devil, and he will flee from you. 

8 Draw nigli to God, and he will draw nigh 
to you. Cleanse yoiir hands, ye sinners ; and 
purify j)/(7Mr hearts, ^/^ doubleminded. 

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep : let 



your laughter be turned to mourning, and your 

joy to heaviness. 

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the 
Lord, and he shall lift you up. 

1 1 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. 
He that speaketh evil ol his brother, and judgeth 
his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth 
the law : but if thou judge the lav/, thou art not 
a doer of the law, but a judge. 

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save 
and to destroy : who art thou that judgest an- 
other ? 

13 Go to now, ye that say. To-day or to-mor- 
row we will go into such a city, and continue 
there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain : 

14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the 
morrow. For what is your life ? It is even a 
vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then 
vanisheth away. 

15 For that ye ought to say. If the Lord will, 
we shall live, and do this, or that. 

16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings : all 
such rejoicing is evil. 

17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, 
and doeth it not, to him it is sin. 



"Speak not evil one of another, brethren" (ver. 11). This is one of the 
most difficult of His commandments. The more difficult, the more need of 
grace ; and the more need, the more full the supply. 

" Well might St. Paul say, ' Put them in mind to speak evil of no man,' 
for do we not easily fail to keep this in mind ? The command is ' exceed- 
ing broad;' let us not seek to narrow it, but humbly bow to our Master's 
distinct orders in all their exactness. Do we really luisli to know them fully, 
that we may obey fully ? Then what are they ? . ' Speak evil of no inan.' 
Shall we venture practically to say, ' Yes, Lord, except of So-and-so ? ' 

" ' Laying aside all evil speaking.' Does not this include the very least ? 
* Let all bitterness, .... and evil speaking be put away from you ; ' then 
does He give us leave to cherish even one little hidden root of that bitter- 
ness from which the evil speaking springs ? ' Put away ' implies resolute 
action in the matter — have we even tiicd to 'put away <?//.?' " — F. R. 
Havergal. 

" Resist the devil, and he will flee from you " (ver. 7). "How resist ? " 



SATURDAY. 



153 



By a full, blushing, spiritual healthiness. Insects and aphides gather on 
sickly plants ; healthy ones resist them. So is it in the Christian life. 

Closet Promise. — If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His 
love is perfected in us. — i John iv. 12. 

It is great wisdom not to be rash in thy doings, nor to stand stiffly in 
thine own conceits. 

As also not to believe everything which thou hearest, nor immediately to 
relate again to others what thou hast heard or dost believe. 

Consult with him that is wise and of sound judgment, and seek to be in- 
structed by one better than thyself, rather than to follow thine own inven- 
tions. — Thomas AKempis. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the 
cruse of oil fail. — i Kings xvii. 14. 

Weekly Proverb. — Fear to do ill, and you need fear nought else. 
— Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SCENES IN THE LIFE OF ELISHA. 

Sunday. — The Naughty Children that Mocked Elisha. — 2 Kings ii. 
12-25. 
Monday. — Opening Channels for the Waters. — 2 Kings iii. 1-27. 
Tuesday. — The Pot of Oil that Paid a Debt. — 2 Kings iv. 1-7. 
Wednesday. — A Dead Boy Raised to Life. — 2 Kings iv. 8-37. 
Thursday. — The Poisoned Pottage Made Good. — 2 Kings iv. 38-44. 
Friday. — Naaman and the Little Maid. — 2 Kings v. 1-19. 
Saturday. — The Do-Nothings. — 2 Kings v. 20-27. 



LUCK. 



' If the face in the moon 
Wear a frown — alas. 

Luck will be poor till the month shall pass ! 
If the face in the moon 
Wear a smile — why, then, 
Luck will be good, till it frown again." 

So runs a verse 
That I used to say ; 
I have learned it, since. 
In another way : 



' If a face be marred 
By a frown — alas, 

Luck will be poor till the frown shall pass ! 
If a face be bright 
With a smile — why, then, 
Luck will be good till it frowns again." 

If the first be true 

'Twould be hard to say ; 

But the last, if you will, 

You can prove, each day. 

— H. R. Hudson, in " Wi'ifr Awake.^ 



154 ELEVENTH WEEK. 

In honor preferring one another. — Rom. xii. lO. 

You have all, I suppose, read of Jack the Giant Killer. That story was 
written to teach children that, all along the years of their early lives, they 
have got to fight giants. To-day I want to tell you about one of these 
giants. We have only one mouth because we don't have to eat for anybody 
else, but we have two ears and two eyes and two hands, because we have to 
help other people. But this giant has only one ear and one eye and one 
hand — just enough to do for himself and nothing more. He comes when 
you have got a great big apple and somebody else wants a bite, or when 
father has given you some money and you don't know whether to spend it 
all for yourself, or part of it for somebody else. If I had a mirror I could 
show him to you. It is self. Selfishness is the big giant. And he bothers 
everybody. A plate of apples was being passed to some children, when a 
little girl took a fine red one. Her next neighbor cried, " How greedy you 
are to take the largest ! I meant to take that myself." You see neither of 
them remembered our text,. " preferring one another." The best way to 
deal with this giant is to shoot him as soon as you see him coming. 



THE PRODIGAL SON. 

Come home ! come home ! 
You are weary at heart, 
For the way has been dark, 
And so hmely and wild. 

O prodigal child! 
Come home ! oh come home ! 

Come home ! come home ! 
From the sorrow and blame, 
From the sin and the shame, 
And the tempter that smiled, 

O prodigal child ! 
Come home ! oh come home ! 

Come home ! come home ! 
There is bread and to spare, 
And a warm welcome there. 
Then, to friends reconciled, 

O prodigal child ! 
Come home ! oh come home ! 

—Mrs. Ellen H. Gates. 



TWELFTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Be not conformed to this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing 
of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. — 
Rom. 12 : 2. 



Or the voices of friends that we greet in our 

sleep, — 

Are the pleasures of earth. 

—Mrs. S. J. Hale. 



Yes, fair as the syren, but false as her song, 
Are the world's painted shadows, that lure us 

along ; 
Like the mist on the mountain, the foam on the 

deep, 

He buys honey too dear who Hcks it from thorns. — Sel. 

It is a poor relief from sorrow to fly to the distractions of the world ; as 
well might a lost and wearied bird, suspended over the abyss of the tem- 
pestuous ocean, seek a resting-place on its topmost wave, as the child of 
sorrow seek a place of repose amid the bustling cares and intoxicating 
pleasures of earth and time. — Dr. Spring. * 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

SUNDAY. 

The Omniscient. — Psalm cxxxix. 



1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known 
me, 

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine 
uprising; thou understandest my thought afar 
off. 

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying 
down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, 
lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, 
and laid thine hand upon me. 

6 Szich knowledge is too wonderful for me ; 
it is high, I cannot attain unto it. 

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or 
whither shall I flee from thy presence ? 

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : 
if I maketh my bed in hell, behold, thou art 
there. 

9 //" I take the wings of the morning, and 
ilwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 

40 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and 
thy right band shall hold me. 

1 1 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover 
me ; even the night shall be light about me. 

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee ; 
but the night shineth as the day: the darkness 
and the light are both alike to thee. 

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou 
hast covered me in my mother's womb. 



14 I will praise thee ; for I am fearfully and 
wonderfully made : marvellous are thy works ; 
and that my soul knoweth right well. 

15 My substance was not hid from thee, 
when I was made m secret, and curiously 
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet 
being unperfect ; and in thy book all my mem- 
bers were written, which in continuance were 
fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 

17 How precious also are Ihy thoughts unto 
me, O God ! how great is the sum of them ! 

1?) If 1 should count them, they are more in • 
number than the sand : when I awake, I am 
still with thee. 

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God : 
depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, 
at:d thine enemies take thy natne in vain. 

21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate 
thee ? and am not I grieved with those that 
rise up against thee ? 

22 I hate them with perfect hatred : I count 
them mine enemies. 

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart : 
try me, and know my thoughts : 

24 And see if there be any vi\cVzdi way in 
me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

(155) 



156 



TWELFTH WEEK. 



" The brightness of this psalm is like unto a sapphire stone, or Ezekiel's 
' terrible crystal ; ' it flames out with such flashes of light as to turn night 
into day. Like a Pharos, this holy song casts a clear light even to the utter- 
most parts of the sea, and warns us against that practical atheism which 
ignores the presence of God, and so makes shipwreck of the soul." — C. H. 
Spurgeon. 

" Note how the psalmist makes his doctrine personal : he saith not, ' O 
God, thou knowest all things ; ' but ' thou hast known vie! It is ever our 
wisdom to lay truth home to ourselves. How wonderful the contrast be- 
tween the observer and the observed ! Jehovah and me ! Yet this most 
intimate connection exists, and therein lies our hope." — C. H. Sptirgeon. 

" So far from thinking it a hardship to be subject to this scrutiny, he 
counts it a most valuable privilege. However others may regard this truth, 
'tome,' my judgment and my feelings, 'how costly,' valuable, 'are thy 
thoughts,' that is, thy perpetual attention to me." — Joseph Addison Alexander. 

My path and my pallet, my running and my resting, are alike within the 
circle of Thine observation. I may leave Thy path, but Thou never leavest 
mine. I may sleep and forget Thee, but Thou dost never slumber, nor fall 
into oblivion concerning Thy creatures. 

Closet Promise. — He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His 
wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. — Psalm 
xci. 4. 



O merciful One ! 
When men are farthest, then Thou art most 

near; 
When men pass coldly by, my weakness shun. 

Thy chariot I hear. 

Thy glorious face 
Is leaning toward me, and its holy light 
Shines upon my lowly dwelling-place, 

And there is no more night. 



On bended knee - 
I recognize Thy purpose clearly shown ; 
My vision Thou hast dimmed that I might see 

Thyself— Thyself alone. 

I have naught to fear. 
This darkness is a shadow of Thy wing ; 
Beneath it I am almost sacred ; here 

Can come no evil thing. 

—John Milton. 



MONDAY. 

Dorcas. — Acts ix. 32-43. 



32 And it came to pass, as Peter passed 
throughout all quarters, he came down also to 
the saints which dwelt at Lydda. 

33 And there he found a certain man named 
Eneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and 
was sick of the palsy. 

34 And Peter said unto him, Eneas, Jesus 
Christ maketh thee whole : arise, and make thy 
bed. And he arose immediately. 

35 And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron 
saw him, and turned to the Lord. 



36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple 
named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called 
Dorcas : this woman was full of good works 
and almsdeeds which she did. 

37 And it came to pass in those days, that 
she was sick, and died : whom when they had 
washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. 

38 And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Jop- 
pa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was 
there, they sent unto him two men, desiring hitn 
that he would not delay to come to them. 



MONDAY. 157 



39 Then Peter arose and went with them. 
When he was come, they brought him into the 
upper chamber : and all the widows stood by 
him weeping, and shewing the coats and gar- 
ments which Dorcas made, while she was with 
them. 

40 But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled 
down, and prayed ; and turning hun to the 



body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her 
eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 

41 And he gave her /;w hand, and lifted her 
up ; and when he had called the saints and 
widows, he presented her alive. 

42 And it was known throughout all Joppa ; 
and many believed in the Lord. 

43 And it came to pass, that he tarried many 
days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner. 



Dorcas is the first woman, after the names in the gospel, whose name is 
mentioned in the history of the Church. She was a " disciple," that is, a 
follower of the Lord Jesus, and a woman of eminent piety. Her life " was 
full of good works and almsdeeds which she did." What a beautiful testi- 
monial is this to go down to all generations ! How far above all memorials 
of worldly fame and greatness ! 

" The work of Dorcas was personal. This is the most precious kind of 
benevolence, both to the giver and receiver. She knew each widow whom 
she clothed, each child whom she fed. Possibly she had not much money 
to bestow ; but she contributed visits of sympathy, looks of love, and works 
of skill. There is a strange power in personal contact and sympathy. The 
poor, the dependent, and the distressed often value it more than money. 
The kind look and the loving word are more highly appreciated than the 
smoking meal, the warm garment, or the glittering silver." — R. R. Meredith, 
D.D. 

Her goodness was abundant. She " was full of good works." They 
were not occasional with her. They were a full and everflowing stream — 
overflowing its banks and fertilizing the neighboring regions. 

Her goodness has immortalized her. She lived in a comparatively small 
and unimportant town, and there was nothing magnificent to worldly view 
in her simple deeds of charity ; but it has pleased God to leave on record 
for all ages the history of her humble yet bright example. Let no " Dor- 
cas " think that her charities are unnoticed or unregarded in heaven. If 
they spring from genuine love, first to Christ, and then to those for whom 
He gave His life, they are all written there. . 

Closet Promise. — He shall feed His flock like a shepherd : He shall 
gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom. — Isa. xl. 11. 

"And a blessed truth it is when the Holy Spirit writes it on the soul : 
The Saviour is mine, and I am His. All to me that a shepherd can be to 
His sheep, all to me that God can be to a creature : He thinks of me, He 
cares for me, He shelters me, He understands me, He is as much mine, and 



158 



as really, as if I were with Him this moment 
presence of His glory." — Rev. A. W. Thorold. 



TWEIvl^TH WEEK. 

n heaven, faultless before the 



TUESDAY. 

The Infant Messiah.— Matt, i 



-23- 



1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem 
of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, 
tljere came wise men from the east to Jerusa- 
lem, 

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of 
the Jews ? for we have seen his star in the east, 
and are come to worship him. 

3 When Herod the king had heard these 
things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with 
him. 

4 And when he had gathered all the chief 
priests and scribes of the people together, he de- 
manded of them where Christ should be born. 

5 And they said unto him. In Bethlehem of 
Judea : for thus it is written by the prophet, 

6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, 
art not the least among the princes of Juda : for 
out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall 
rule my people Israel. 

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called 
the wise men, inquired of them diligently what 
time the star appeai'ed. 

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, 
Go and search dilligently for the young child; 
and when ye have found him, bring me word 
again, that I may come and worship him also. 

9 When they had heard the king, ihey de- 
parted ; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the 
east, went before them, till it came and stood 
over where the young child was. 

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced 
with exceeding great joy. 

1 1 ^ And when they were come into the 
house, they saw the young child with Mary his 
mother, and fell down and viforshipped him : 
and when they had opened their treasures, they 
presented unto him gifts ; gold, and frankincense, 
and myrrh. 

12 And being warned of God in a dream 
that they should not return to Herod, .they de- 
parted into their own country another way. 

13 And when they were departed, behold, 
the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a 



dream, saying. Arise, and take the young child 
and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou 
there until I bring thee word : for Herod will 
seek the young child to destroy him. 

14 When he arose, he took the young child 
and his mother by night, and departed into 
Egypt : 

15 And was there until the death of Herod : 
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of 
the Lord by the prophet, saying. Out of Egypt 
have I called my son. 

16 \ Then Herod, when he saw that he was 
mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, 
and sent forth, and slew all the children that 
were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, 
from two years old and under, according to the 
time which he had diligently inquired of the 
wise men. 

17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken 
by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 

18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamen- 
tation, and weeping, and great mourning, 
Rachel weeping for her children, and would 
not be comforted, because they are not. 

19 \ But when Herod was dead, behold, an 
angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to 
Joseph in Egypt, 

20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child 
and his mother, and go into the land of Israel : 
for they are dead which sought the young child's 
life. 

21 And he arose, and took the young child 
and his mother, and came into the land of Is- 
rael. 

22 But when he heard that Archelaus did 
reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, 
he was afraid to go thither : notwithstanding, 
being warned of God in a dream, he turned 
aside into the parts of Galilee : 

23 And he came and dwelt in a city called 
Nazareth : that it might be fulfilled which was 
spoken by the prophets. He shall be called a 
Nazarene. 



" Worshipped Him — gold and frankincense and myrrh." "Action, Prayer, 
Sorrow: I. Gold may be taken as representing our material wealth. All, 
work, all material, have their worth in gold. This oblation represents the 
efficiency of that which is external to us, and can be detached from us. II. 
The frankincense is a substance which, once kindled, sends up sweet clouds 
to the sky. It is the symbol of religious thought directing itself lovingly 



TUESDAY. 



169 



and longingly towards God. It typifies what is inward. There is a life of 
contemplation as well as of action. III. The last offering completing the 
text is myrrh. This stands for sorrows ; in this we are equal before God. 
We can offer to Him our pains and repentance." — M. Dix. 

From this visit of the magi has grown up our idea of keeping Christmas 
with gifts. Give the best you have to Jesus. It matters not how poor the 
offering be, if it is the best you can give. Did you ever think that there is 
not, in the whole New Testament, one caution or guard against our over- 
trusting and overexalting Christ ? Be not afraid to worship Him. Love on, 
trust on, worship on. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. — 
Isa. liii. 6. 

This burden is never divided. He took it all, every item, every detail of 
it. On Jesus it has been laid, on Him who alone could bear the intolerable 
burden ; therefore it is not upon His justified ones who accept Him as their 
sinbearer. 



■ On Thee, the Lord 

My mighty sins hath laid ; 
And against Thee Jehovah's sword 



Flashed forth its fiery blade. 
The stroke of justice fell on Thee, 
That it might never fall op me." 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Call of Abraham. — Gen. xi. 31, 32; xii. 



31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot 
the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his 
daughter in law, his son Abram's wife ; and they 
went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, 
to go into the land of Canaan ; and they came 
unto Haran, and dwelt there. 

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred 
and five years ; and Terah died in Haran. 

1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get 
thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, 
and from thy father's house, unto a land that I 
will shew thee : 

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, 
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great ; 
and thou shalt be a blessing: 

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and 
curse him that curseth thee : and in thee shall 
all families of the earth be blessed. 

4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken 
unto him; and Lot went with him : and Abiam 
was seventy and five years old when he departed 
out of Haran. 



5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot 
his brother's son, and all their substance that 
they had gathered, and the souls that they had 
gotten in Haran : and they went forth to go into 
the land of Canaan ; and into the land of Ca- 
naan they came. 

6 And Abram passed through the land unto 
the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. 
And the Canaanite was then in the land. 

7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and 
said, Unto thy seed will I give this land : and 
there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who 
appeared unto him. 

8 And he removed from thence unto a moun- 
tain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, 
having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the 
east : and there he builded an altar unto the 
Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. 

9 And Abram journeyed, going on still to- 
ward the south. 

10 And there was a famine in the land: and 
Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there ; 
for the famine was grievous in the land. 



At some time in our lives a call from God sends its trumpet tone through 



160 



TWELFTH WEEK, 



each of our souls, as it did when Abraham heard it, and he went forth with 
the future stretching broad and far before him. Abraham's emigration 
teaches by example precisely the same profound and universal lesson of 
spiritual life which Jesus taught in words: " Whosoever he be of you that 
forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." St. Francis of 
Assisi, and many like him, have read this evangelical call to renounce the 
world too literally. Nevertheless, if we would choose and pursue the heav- 
enly country to which God is calling us, there must be in the heart of each 
of us a virtual leaving of father and mother, a forsaking of all that we have, 
in order to be Christ's followers. 

Abraham showed his faith by his prompt, unquestioning obedience. He 
asked no questions — required no pledges. " By faith," it is said in the 
Epistle to the Hebrews, "Abraham, when he was called to go out into a 
place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he went 
out, not knowing whither he went," He believed that God would lead him 
into no mean country. It is because we distrust God's leadings that so fre- 
quently we get into places that are barren. 

Closet Promise. — Everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or 
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's 
sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. — Matt, 
xix. 2Q. 



" For Jesus' sake," all sin forgiven ! " For Je- 
sus' sake," sweet rest ! 

'Tis this glad word has wooed and won my 
heart to love Him best. 

His praise I sing, my Lord ! my King ! who 
died my peace to make ; 

And all the day, and all the way, an echo in 
my heart shall say, 

" For Jesus' sake." 

" For Jesus' sake ! " These precious words shall 
be like pinions swift 

To waft my prayers through heaven's gate, and 
bear back many a gift. 

Each answer free God sends to me, then joy- 
fully I'll take. 

And all the day, and all the way, an echo in 
my heart shall say, 

" For Jesus' sake ! " 



WheiT often like a wayward child I murmur at 

His will, 
Then this sweet word, " For Jesus' sake," my 

restless heart can still. 
I bow my head ; and, gently led, His easy yoke 

I take ! 
And all the day, and all the way, an echo in 

my heart shall say, 

" For Jesus' sake !" 

In suffering sore, or toilsome task. His burden 

light I'll bear; 
"For Jesus' sake " shall sweeten all, till His 

bright home I share ; 
And then this song, more sweet, more strong, in 

heaven my heart shall wake ; 
Led all the way, till that glad 'day, eternally my 

heart shall say, 

" For Jesus' sake." 

— Georgiana M. Taylor. 



TWELFTH WKKK. 



161 



THURSDAY. 



The "How Long Psalm." — Psalm xiii 



1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord ? 
for ever ? how long wilt thou hide thy face 
from me ? 

2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, 
having sorrow in my heart daily? how long 
shall mine enemy be exalted over me ? 

3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God : 
lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of 
death; 



4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed 
against him ; and those that trouble me rejoice 
when I am moved. 

5 But I have trusted in thy mercy ; my heart 
shall rejoice in thy salvation. 

6 I will sing unto the LoRD, because he hath 
dealt bountifully with me. 



This Psalm is the language of that much-tried man of God, David, and 
" is intended to express the feelings of the people of God in those ever- 
returning trials which beset them. If the reader has never yet found occa- 
sion to use the language of this brief ode, he will do so ere long, if he be a 
man after the Lord's own heart." This Psalm readily divides itself into three 
parts : the question of anxiety (i, 2) ; the cry of prayer (3, 4) ; the song of 
faith (5, 6). 

" The departures of God from true believers are never final ; they may 
be tedious, but they are temporary ' For a small moment have I for- 
saken thee ; but with great mercies will I gather thee ; ' here is not only a 
gathering after a forsaking, but ^ great mercies' to make amends for ^a small 
moine7it! He who hath engaged to be our God forever, cannot depart for- 
ever." — Timothy Crtiso. 

How far different is the end of this Psalm from the beginning! " Lo, the 
rain is over and gone, and the time of the singing of birds is come. The 
mercy-seat has so refreshed the poor weeper, that he clears his throat for a 
song." 

Closet Promise. — The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, 
and He delighteth in his way; though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast 
down, because the Lord upholdeth him with His hand. — Psalm xxxvii. 
23-24. 



Whate'er my God ordains is right. 

His will is ever just; 
Howe'er He orders now my cause 
I will be still and trust. 
He is my God, 
Though dark my road. 
He holds me that I shall not fall, 
Wlierefore to Him I leave it all. 



Whate'er my God ordains is right. 

He never will deceive; 
He leads me by the proper path. 
And so to Him I cleave, 
And take content 
What he hath sent; 
His hand can turn my griefs away, 
And patiently I wait His day. 

S. Rodigast, 1675. 



162 



TWELFTH WEEK. 



FRIDAY. 

His Banner. — Sol. Song : 



1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the 
valleys. 

2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love 
among the daughters. 

3 As the apple tree among the trees of the 
wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat 
down under his shadow with great delight, and 
his fruit 'Mas sweet to my taste. 

4 He brought me to the banqueting house, 
and his banner over me was love. 

5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with 
apples : for I am sick of love. 

6 His left hand is under my head, and his 
right hand doth embrace me. 

7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that 
ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. 

8 \ The voice of my beloved ! behold, he 
Cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping 
upon the hills. 

9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart : 
behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh 
forth at the windows, shewing himself through 
the lattice. 



10 My beloved spake, and said unto me. Rise 
up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 

1 1 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over 
awi/gone ; 

12 The flowers appear on the earth ; the time 
of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of 
the turtle is heard in our land; 

13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, 
and the vines with the tender grape give a good 
smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come 
away. 

14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the 
rock, in the stcrtt. places of the stairs, let me see 
thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for 
sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is 
comely. 

15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, tliat 
spoil the vines : lor our vines have tender grapes. 

16 My beloved is mine, and I ajn his: he 
feedeth among the lilies. 

17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee 
away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe 
or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. 



" Banner usually signifies a standard or ensign, a declaration by an army 
of ability to defend themselves against the enemy (Sol. Song vi. 4; Psa. xx. 
5). It is a sign of authority, i. But here (ver. 4) it means a beckoning 
welcome to Christ's love and sheltering care. Conquered by His love. His 
banner over us is the pledge of Omnipotent protection ; the forces and re- 
sources of His love are ours. Hence, beneath His banner, life becomes a 
banquet of bliss and conscious safety. 

" 2. His banner of love also indicates the country to which our loyalty is 
henceforth pledged, to which we are going, the eternal abode of love. Under 
it, the unseen forces of God are our sworn defenders. Hence our banquet 
triumphs (Rom. viii. 37)." — Rev. jfohn Parker. 

Beneath our nation's flag the feeblest child is safe. So am I beneath His 
banner and cross. 

" My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, ai\d 
come away " (ver. 10). What a loving call ! 

" Rise up and come away from all that pollutes and separates you from 
Him." " Shake thyself from the dust, and arise ! " "Arise, shine, for thy 
Light is come! " 



Closet Promise. — The Lord God is my strength. — Hab. iii. 19. 



163 



"The Lord my strength ! " Yea, day by day 

I prove this changeless word of Thine ; 
And ever, with more childlike trust, 

I rest upon the Arm Divine. 
And every prayer hath deeper faith 

As upward wings its flight to Thee — 
My soul upon " The Lord thus saith," 

Builds sure as Thine eternity. 



" The Lord my strength ! " Earth brings her 
load 

Of crowding cares my heart to press, 
And often 'mid the hurrying round 

Of human duty, do I bless 
Thee, O my King, that Thou hast given 

A promise like Thyself so sure — 
A bond which never may be riven 

As long as life and time endure. 

— Mrs. Lizzie Fenner Baker. 



SATURDAY. 

A Jealous God. — Nahum i. 



1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the 
vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 

2 God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth ; 
the Lord revengeth, and is furious ; the Lord 
will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he 
reserveth uiiath for his enemies. 

3 The Lord is slow to anger, and great in 
power, and will not at all acquit the wicked : 
the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in 
the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his 
feet. 

4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, 
and drieth up all the rivers : Bashan languish- 
eth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon lan- 
guisheth. 

5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills 
melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, 
the world, and all that dwell therein. 

6 Who can stand before his indignation ? and 
who caii abide in the fierceness of his anger? 
his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are 
thrown down by him. 

7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day 
of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in 
him. 

8 But with an overrunning flood he will make 



an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness 
shall pursue his enemies. 

9 What do ye imagine against the Lord ? he 
will make an utter end : affliction shall not rise 
up the second lime. 

10 For while they be folden together as 
thorns, and while they are drunken (2.r drunkards, 
they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. 

11 There is otie come out of thee, that im- 
agineth evil against the Lord, a wicked coun- 
sellor. 

12 Thus saith the Lord; Though they be 
quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be 
cut down, when he shall pass through. Though 
I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. 
. 13 For now will I break his yoke from off 
thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder. 

14 And the Lord hath given a command- 
ment concerning thee, that no more of thy name 
be sown : out of the house of thy gods will I 
cut off the graven image and the molten image : 
I will make thy grave; for thou art vile. 

15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of 
him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth 
peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, per- 
form thy vows : for the wicked shall no more 
pass through thee ; he is utterly cut off. 



" God'.s jealousy is twofold. It is an intense love, not bearing imperfec- 
tions or unfaithfulness in that which it loves, and so chastening it ; or not 
bearing the ill-dealings of those who would injure what it loves, and so 
destroying them. To Israel He had revealed Himself, as a jealous God, 
visiting iniquity but shelving mercy ; here, as jealous for His people against 
those who were purely His enemies and the enemies of His people, and so 
His jealousy burneth to their destruction, in that there is in them no good 
to be refined, but only evil to be consumed." — E. B. Pusey, D. D. 

But those who come to " trust in the Lord," will find Him their " Strong- 
hold " (ver. 7) and impregnable Fortress in every time of trouble and danger, 
and He will make it appear that He approved and favored them ; while His 



164 



TWELFTH WEEK. 



enemies shall be carried away as with a flood, into the blackness of dark- 
ness and despair. 

"He knoweth them that trust in Him ; " so as to save them, as Rahab was 
saved when Jericho perished, and Lot out of the midst of the overthrow of 
Sodom, and Hezekiah from the host of Sennacherib. He hioweth them 
with an individual, ever-present knowledge. He says not only, " He shall 
own them," but He ever knoweth them. 

Closet Promise. — Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she 
should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea, they may for- 
get, yet will I not forget thee. — Isa. xlix. 15. 



' Fearest sometimes that thy Father 

Hath forgot ? 
Though the clouds around thee gather, 

Doubt Him not! 
Always hath the daylight broken, 
Always hath He comfort spoken ; 
Better hath He been for years 

Than thy fears. 

' Therefore, whatsoe'er betideth, 

Night or day. 
Know His love for thee provideth 
Good alway : 



Crown of sorrows gladly take, 
Grateful wear it for His sake ; 
Sweetly bending to His will. 
Lying still. 

'' To His own thy Saviour giveth 

Daily strength, 
To each troubled soul that liveth 

Peace at length. 
Meekest lambs have largest share 
Of the tender Shepherd's care ; 
Ask Him not, then, 'When?' or 'How?' 

Only bow ! " 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Having food and raiment, let us be therewith con- 
tent. — I Tim. vi. 8. 

Weekly Proverb. — Let Decency be all thy pride. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SCENES IN THE LIFE OF ELISHA. 

Sunday. — Elisha Makes an Iron Axe Swim. — 2 Kings vi. 1-7. 

Monday. — The Unseen Army in the Sky. — 2 Kings vi. 8-23. 

Tuesday. — A Great Famine. — 2 Kings vi. 24-33. 

Wednesday. — Elisha Prophesies Plenty. — 2 Kings vii. 1-20. 

Thursday. — A Woman who Got Back All She Lost. — 2 Kings viii. 1-6. 

Friday. — Elisha's Sick-Bed. — 2 Kings xiii. 14-19. 

Saturday. — Elisha's Bones Raise up a Dead Man. — 2 Kings xiii. 20-25. 



ONLY ONE. 



Who knows of the steps it takes 
To keep the home together, 

Who knows of the work it makes ? 
Only one — the mother. 



Who listens to childish woes 
Which kisses only smother. 

Who's pained by naughty blows? 
Only one — the mother. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



165 



Who knows of the untiring care 
Bestowed on baby brother, 

Who knows ol the tender prayer? 
Only one — the mother. 

Who knows of the lessons taught 

Of loving one another, 
Who knows of patience sought ? 

Only one — the mother. 



Who knows of the anxious fears 

Lest darling may not weather 
The storm of life in after years? 

Only one — the mother. _ 

Who kneels at the throne above 
To thank the heavenly Father 

For that sweetest gift — a mother's love ? 
Only one — the mother. 

— Home Journal. 



Thou shalt not steal. — Ex. xx. 15. 

This is the Eighth Commandment. It is very short and very simple. It is 
so plain that the youngest scholar in an infant school can tell what it means. 
There are two things for us to do, if we would keep this commandment. 
First, We must pray to God to keep us from tetnptation. Second, We vmst re- 
sist little temptations. I remember reading once about a man who was going 
to be hung for robbery and murder. On the scaffold he said he began to 
steal by taking a farthing from his mother's pocket while she was asleep. 
Many children begin to steal at the sugar-bowl or the cake-basket. To take 
the smallest thing that does not belong to us, without permission, is stealing. 
And it never pays to steal. I knew a little boy who went into a candy store 
in Philadelphia with his father and mother. As he stood there he saw a 
barrel of English walnuts. While his parents were buying some candy, 
and when no one saw him, he took one. He put it in his pocket; it 
troubled his conscience all the way home, and as soon as he got to the 
house on the farm he ran to the back of the barn, and with a stone cracked 
the walnut. Behold ! it was rotten ! He had all his trouble for nothing. 
But it served him right. So all stealing comes out at last. 



THIRTEENTH ^A^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. — Matt. xiv. 27. 



Amid the darkness, when the storm 
Swept fierce and wild o'er Galilee, 

Was seen of old, dear Lord, Thy form. 
All calmly walking on the sea ; 

And raging elements were still, 

Obedient to Thy sovereign will. 



So on life's restless, heaving wave, 

When night and storm my sky o'ercast, 

Oft hast Thou come to cheer and save. 
Hast changed my fear to joy at last — 

Thy voice hath bid the tumult cease. 

And Soothed my throbbing heart to peace. 
— Ray Palmer. 



No pain, no palm ; no thorn, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no 
crown. — Win. Pemt. 

If a maa stands between you and the sun, his shadow falls upon you. 
So God sometimes comes between us and worldly successes, and His 
shadow falls upon us, and we wrongly think it is night. — Sel. 

Those who make the glory of God their end, and the word of God their 
rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of 
God the guide of their affairs ; may be sure the Lord goes before them, 
though they cannot see Him with their eyes. — Henry. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Heavenly Places." — Ephes. ii. 



1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead 
in trespasses and sins ; 

2 Wherein in time past ye walked according 
to the course of this world, according to the 
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now 
worketh in the children of di«;obedience : 

3 Among whom also we all had our conver- 
sation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, ful- 
filling the desires of the flesh and of the mind ; 
and were by nature the children of wralh, even 
as others. 

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great 
love wherewith he loved us, 

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath 
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye 
are saved ;) 

6 And hath raised us up together, and made 
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
Jesus : 

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the 
exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness 
toward us, through Christ Jesus. 

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith ; 

(166) 



and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of 
God: 

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

10 For we are his workmanship, created in 
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath 
before ordained that we should walk in them. . 

1 1 Wherefore remember, that ye being in 
time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called 
Uncircumcision by that which is called the Cir- 
cumcision in the flesh made by hands ; 

12 That at that time ye were without Christ, 
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, 
and strangers from the covenants of promise, 
having no hope, and without God in the world : 

13 But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who some- 
time were far off are made nigh by the blood of 
Christ. 

14 For he is our peace, who hath made both 
one, and hath broken down the middle wall of 
partition between us ; 

15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, 
even the law of commandments contained in or- 



167 



dinances ; for to make in himself of twain one 
new man, so making peace ; 

1 6 And that he might reconcile both unto 
God in one body by the cross, having slain the 
enmity thereby : 

17 And came and preached peace to you 
which were afar ofl", and to them that were nigh. 

18 For through him we both have access by 
one Spirit unto the Father. 

19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers 



and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the 
saints, and of the household of God, 

20 And are built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself be- 
ing the chief corner stone ; 

21 In whom all the building fitly framed to- 
gether groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord : 

22 In whom ye also are builded together for 
a habitation of God through the Spirit. 



Five times over in the course of this Epistle, we meet with the phrase 
" heavenly places," or literally " the heavenlies." 

" When Paul wrote of ' heavenly places ' as the lot of Christ's people on 
earth, it was not to please the imagination or dazzle the fancy with mere 
spiritual visions — but to show us how near and how available is the source 
of spiritual and saving strength for daily life. To be ' with Christ,' therefore, 
' in the heavenlies,' is to be living at the source of power for new obedience, 
and to draw from thence for support in that service which is true freedom — 
freedom from slavish fears, from corroding cares, from every inordinate 
a~ffection which would hinder you in the doing of His will. Brought nigh 
to God — living in the fellowship of God, through Jesus — you have a well- 
spring of new motives of action opened for you in His service, and of 
strength for patient rest in His will." — y. S. Muir. 

" Dr. Preston, when he was dying, used these words, ' Blessed be God, 
though- I change my place I shall not change my company, for I 
have walked with God while living, and now I go to rest with God." — Bax- 
endale. 

Closet Promise. — He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High 
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. — Psalm xci. i. 



Come to me. Lord, to-night, 
And make Thy dwelling in my inmost heart, 
That never more from Thee my soul may 
part, 
Its never-failing Light ! 



■ Under the shadow of Thy Wing 
I'd make my Refuge, till the cares and fears 
Of life are past; then through its tears, 
For joy, my soul shall sing ! " 



MONDAY. 

' The Song of the Steadfast." — Psalm xi. 



1 In the Lord put I my trust : how say ye to 
my soul. Flee as a bird to your mountain ? 

2 For, lo, the wicked bend their l)ow, they 
make ready their arrow upon the string, that 
they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. 

3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can 
the righteoHS do ? 



4 The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's 
throne is in heaven : his eyes behold, his eye- 
lids try, the children of men. 

5 The Lord trieth the righteous: but the 
wicked and him that loveth violence his soul 
hateth. 

6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire 



168 



THIRTEENTH WEEK. 



and brimstone, and a horrible tempest : this shall 1 7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteous- 
be the portion of their cup. j ness; his countenance doth behold the upright. 

When David " penned this Psalm he was under persecution from Saul, 
who sought his life, and hunted him ' as a partridge upon the mountains.' 
His timid friends were alarmed for his safety, and recommended him to flee 
to some mountain where he had a hiding-place, and thus to conceal himself 
from the rage of Saul. But David, being strong in faith, spurned the idea 
of resorting to any such pusillanimous expedients, and determined confi- 
dently to repose his trust in God." — Charles Simeon. 

" When prayer engages God on our side, and when faith secures the ful- 
filment of the promise, what cause can there be for flight, however cruel 
and mighty our enemies." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

If some great discouragement or temptation has overtaken you, reject it 
at once, before it settles upon the thoughts. Make immediate application 
to God and the promises ; " Trust still in God, for I shall yet praise him," is 
the keynote here. 

Closet Promise. — He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass 
him about. — Psalm xxxii. 10. 



I know not what my life shall hold 

Of love, or light ; 
Only, that safe within the fold, 

It shall be right. 



I only seek to find the ways 

His feet have pressed ; 
And feel, through fair or darker days, 

" He knoweth best! "— Af. M. B. 



TUESDAY. 

Divine Husbandry.— John xv. 1-16. 



1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the 
husbandman. 

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit 
he taketh away : and every branch that beareth 
fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more 
fruit. 

3 Now ye are clean through the word which 
I have spoken unto you. 

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch 
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the 
vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches. He 
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same 
bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye 
can do nothing. 

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth 
as a branch, and is withered : and men gather 
them, and cast them into the fire, and they aje 
burned. 

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in 
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be 
done unto you. 



8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear 
much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples. 

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I 
loved you : continue ye in my love. 

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall 
abide in my love ; even as I have kept my Fa- 
ther's commandments, and abide in his love. 

11 Tliese things have I spoken unto you, that 
my joy might remain in you, and that your joy 
might be full. 

12 This is my commandment. That ye love 
one another, as I have loved you. 

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that 
a man lay down his life for his friends. 

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I 
command you. 

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for 
the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth : 
but I have called you friends ; for all things that 
I have heard of my Father I have made known 
unto you. 

1 6 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen 



TUESDAY. 



169 



you, and ordained you, that ye should go and I main ; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the 
bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should re- | Father in my name, he may give it you. 

When we see the multitude of Christ's people, all hanging on Him, all 
united to Him, and all drawing sap, and moisture, and life, and strength,' 
and fruitfulness from Him, what can more beautifully represent Jesus and 
His people than the rich vine and her branches, on which grow the fullest 
clusters of the pure blood of the grape ? 

The best evidence of the Christian life is " more fruit." Christ prayed 
for His disciples, that they might bring forth fruit. He declared to them 
that in the divine administration, God, as vintner, sought to make the vine 
bring forth more and more fruit. That is the meaning of the priming and 
girdhng, as well as the milder agencies of His grace and goodness. Chas- 
tisements are occasional ; God's goodness constant. Bearing fruit, sweet, 
luscious, and blessed, is the business of the Christian life. Christ did not 
mean that fruit should come all at once, all ripened. It is not in one year, 
nor five, nor ten, that you will ripen. But however God may endure bar- 
renness out of the Church, yet He will never endure it in the Church. To 
be a bramble in the orchard, to be a weed in the garden, to be noisome in a 
place where we should h^ fruitful — will God, the great husbandman, endure 
this? Whatsoever is not for fruit is for the fire (Matt. iii. lo). 

Closet Promise, — Ye are God's husbandry. — i Cor. iii. 9. 



The word in the margin for " husbandry " is " tillage.' 
field God is tilling. 



Your heart is the 



' Sower divine, 
Sow the good seed in me. 
Seed for eternity. 
'Tis a rough, barren soil, 
Yet, by thy care and toil, 



Make it a fruitful field, 

A hundred-fold to yield. 

Sower divine, 

Sow deep this heart of mine.' 



WEDNESDAY. 

Victorious Wrestling in Prayer. — Matt. xv. 21-31. 



21 If Then Jesus went thence, and departed 
into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 

22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came 
out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, say- 
ing, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thoit Son of 
David ; my daughter is grievously vexed with a 
devil. 

23 But he answered her not a word. And 
his disciples came and besought him, saying, 
Send her away ; for she crieth after us. 

24 But he answered and said, I am not sent 
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

10 



25 Then came she and worshipped him, say- 
ing, Lord, help me. 

26 But he answered and said. It is not meet 
to take the children's bread, and to cast it to 
dogs. 

27 And she said, Truth, Lord : yet the dogs 
eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' 
table. 

28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, 
O woman, great is thy faith : be it unto thee 
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made 
whole from that very hour. 



170 



THIRTEENTH WEEK. 



29 And Jesus departed from thence, and maimed, and many others, and cast them down 
came nigh unto the sea of Galilee ; and went up at Jesus' feet ; and he healed them : 

into a mountain, and sat down there. 31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, 

30 And great multitudes came unto him, hav- when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed 
ing with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to 

see : and they glorified the God of Israel. 

Of all the expression.s of Christian life, prayer is the foremost. And the 
prayer of faith must ultimately triumph. 

" We must not let Jesus go. If He goes away, follow Him ; if He seems 
to be stern, become more urgent; if He hides His face, cry the louder; if 
He will not listen, assail His heart. Every No of Jesus is an Aye in disguise. 
It is true we deserve none of the things we pray for ; but He has enough 
and to spare for all; and after the children are filled, He can afford to cast 
the crumbs to the dogs. If we have but the crumbs from His rich table, 
we shall be satisfied." — C. E. Ltithardt. 

" Some old writer thus quaintly explains the case. ' Christ's love is wise. 
There is an art in His strange delays, which makes us love-sick. We 
cheapen what is easily got, and under-rate anything that is at our elbow; 
but delays heighten and raise the market value of Christ's blessings. He 
wishes to make our faith stronger, and His trials are fof the triumph of our 
faith. He did as we do when we hold toys dangling before our children, 
that we may make them desire and enjoy them more.' " — y. Wells. 



Closet Promise. — And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, 
if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us : and if we know 
that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions 
that we desired of Him. — i John v. 14-15. 



Jesus, Thy love alone, alone Thy love, 

Refresheth me ; 
And for that love of Thine, that freshening love, 

I come to Thee. 

It is Thy cross, alone Thy cross, 

That healeth me ; 
And for that cross of Thine, that healing cross, 

I come to Thee. 

It is Thy death alone, alone Thy death. 

That quickeneth me ; 
And for that death of Thine, that quickening 
death, 

I come to Thee. 



It is Thy life alone, alone Thy life, 

That saveth me ; 
And for that life of Thine, that saving life, 

I come to Thee. 

It is Thy joy alone, alone Thy joy. 

That gladdens me ; 
And for that joy of Thine, that gladdening joy, 

I come to Thee. 

Saviour, 'tis Thou Thyself, alone Thyselt, 

Art all to me ; 
And for that all, of every thing I need, 

I come to Thee. 

— Horatius Bonar. 



THURSDAY. 

Obedience.— Dent. iv. 1-24. 



I Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the 
statutes and unto the judgnfents, which I teach 
you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in 



and possess the land which the Lord God of 
your fathers giveth you. 

2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I 



THURSDAY. 



171 



command you, neither shall ye diminish aught 
from it, that ye may keep the commandments of 
the Lord your God which I command you. 

3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did 
because of Baal-peor: for all the men that fol- 
lowed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath de- 
stroyed them from among you. 

4 But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your 
God are alive every one of you this day. 

5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judg- 
ments, even as the Lord my God commanded 
me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye 
go to possess it. 

6 Keep therefore and do them ; for this is 
your wisdom and your understanding in the 
sight of the nations, which shall hear all these 
statutes, and say. Surely this great nation is a 
wise and understanding people. 

7 For what nation is there so great, who hath 
God so nigh unio them, as the Lord our God is 
in all things that we call upon Mww for ? 

8 And what nation is there so great, that hath 
statutes and judgments so righteous as all this 
law, which I set before you this day ? 

9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul 
diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine 
eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy 
heart all the days of thy life ; but teach them 
thy sons, and thy sons' sons ; 

ID Specially the day that thou stoodest before 
the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord 
said unto me, Gather me the people together, 
and I will make them hear my words, that they 
may learn to fear me all the days that they shall 
live upon the earth, and that they may teach 
their children. 

11 And ye came near and stood under the 
mountain ; and the mountain burned with fire 
unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, 
and thick darkness. 

12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the 
midst of the fire : ye heard the voice of the 
words, but saw no similitude; o^y ye heard a 
voice. 

13 And he declared unto you his covenant, 



which he commanded you to perform, even ten 
commandments ; and he wrote them upon two 
tables of stone. 

14 And the Lord commanded me at that 
time to teach you statutes and judgments, that 
ye might do them in the land whither ye go 
over to possess it. 

15 Take ye therefore good heed unlo your- 
selves ; for ye saw no manner of similitude on 
the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb 
out of the midst of the fire ; 

16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you 
a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the 
likeness of male or female, 

17 The likeness of any beast that is on the 
earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that 
flieth in the air, 

18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on 
the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in 
the waters beneath the earth : 

19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto 
heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the 
moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, 
shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve 
them, which the Lord thy God hath divided 
unto all nations under the whole heaven. 

20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought 
you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of 
Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, 
2^% ye are this day. 

21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me 
for your sakes, and sware that I should not go 
over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto 
that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth 
\hte. for an inheritance : 

22 But I must die in this land, I must not go 
over Jordan : but ye shall go over, and possess 
that good land. 

23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget 
the covenant of the Lord your God, which he 
made with you, and make you a graven image, 
or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord 
thy God hath forbidden thee. 

24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming 
fire, even a jealous God. 



The first eleven chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy contain mostly ex- 
hortations to obedience, with the motives of love and gratitude that should 
urge to it. Moses here beseeches the people, as Paul did the Romans, " by 
the mercies of God," to present themselves a living sacrifice, holy and ac- 
ceptable unto God, which he proves is but their " reasonable service." He 
begins with a narrative of their past experiences, chaps, i., ii., iii., and on the 
ground of the Lord's gracious dealing with them and their own unfaithful- 
ness he urges them in chap. iv. to take heed to themselves and keep their 
souls diligetttly, " lest," he says, " thou forget the things which thine eyes 
have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life ; but 
teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons," — ^Verse 9. 



172 



THIRTEENTH WEEK. 



" O Lord ! Thou dost admonish us to take heed to ourselves ; blessed 
be thy name for the admonition ; but alas ! we are unfaithful and prone to 
evil. Oh ! leave us not. By Thy grace may we give heed diligently ; by 
Thy grace we shall profit by past experience, and by Thy grace we shall be 
enabled to instruct our children. Oh ! then bless us, and we shall be blest." 

Closet Promise. — Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall 
be My people : and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, 
that it may be well unto you. — Jer. vii. 23. 

Pray Him to give you what Scripture calls " an honest and good heart," 
or " a perfect heart ; " and, without waiting, begin at once to obey Him with 
the best heart you have. Any obedience is better than none. You have 
to seek His face; obedience is the only way of seeing Him. All your duties 
are obediences. To do what He bids is to obey Him, and to obey Him is to 
approach Him. Every act of obedience is an approach — an approach to 
Him who is not far off, though He seems so, but close behind this visible 
screen of things which hides Him from us. — y. H. Newman. 



FRIDAY. 

Beware of Idolatry. — Deut. iv. 25-40. 



25 ^When thou shall beget children, and 
children's children, and ye shall have remained 
long in the land, and shall corrupt yourseh'es, 
and make a graven image, or the likeness of any 
thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord 
thy God, to provoke him to anger ; 

26 1 call heaven and earth to witness against 
you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish 
from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan 
to possess it ; ye shall not prolong your days 
upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among 
the nations, and ye shall be left few in number 
among the heathen, whither the Lord shall 
lead you. 

28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work 
of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither 
see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 

29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the 
Lord thy God, thou shalt find ki7n, if thou seek 
him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these 
things are come upon thee, even in ihe latter 
days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and 
shalt be obedient to his voice; 

31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful 
God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy 
thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, 
which he sware unto them. 



32 For ask now of the days that are past, 
which vv'ere before thee, since the day that God 
created man upon the earth, and ask from the 
one side of heaven unto the other, whether 
there hath been any stick iking as this great 
thing is, or hath been heard like it ? 

33 Did ever people hear the voice of God 
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou 
hast heard, and live ? 

34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him 
a nation from the midst of another nation, by 
temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by 
war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched 
out arm, and by great terrors, according to all 
that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt 
before your eyes ? 

35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou might- 
est know that the Lord he is God ; there is none 
else beside him. 

36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his 
voice, that lie might instruct thee : and upon 
earth he shewed thee his great fire ; and thou 
heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 

37 And because he loved thy fathers, there- 
fore he chose their seed after them, and brought 
thee out in his sight with his mighty power out 
of Egypt; 

38 To drive out nations from before thee 
greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee 



FRIDAY. 173 

in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as i 40 Thou shaU keep therefore his statutes, and 

it is this day. his commandments, which I command thee this 

39 Know therefore this day, and consider // ^ day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy 

in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in j children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong 

heaven above, and upon the earth beneath : I t/iy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy 

there is none else. ' God giveth thee, for ever. 

"All sin is hateful to God, and none but the cleansed, perfect soul shall 
stand before Him in the presence of His glory; nor any in whom iniquity 
hath dominion shall stand accepted in the presence of His grace; but yet 
no particular sin is so hateful to Him as idolatry is. For this is not only a 
trespassing against His laws, but a disclaiming or rejecting His very Sov- 
ereignty itself . . . The first commandment is not like the rest, which re- 
quire only obedience to particular laws in a particular action ; but it estab- 
lishes the very relations of sovereign and subject, and requires a constant 
acknowledgment of these relations, and makes it high treason against the 
God of heaven in any that shall violate that command. Every crime is not 
treason: it is one thing to miscarry in a particular case, and another thing 
to have other gods before and besides the Lord, the only God. Now, this 
is the sin of every worldling; he hath taken down God from the throne of 
his soul, and set up the flesh and the world in His stead ; these he valueth, 
and magniiieth, and delighteth in ; these have his very heart, while God that 
made it and redeemed him is set light by." — Baxter. 

" Sirs, the thing that we are reproving is, that the world gets so much of 
your heart and God so little. The creature should but have a small portion 
of your affections, if it be not the creature, but God that is your portion. 
But alas ! many are like the great man that, being asked if he ever saw an 
eclipse of the sun, said, ' He had so much ado upon earth, he never had 
time to look up to heaven.' Just so may it be said of multitudes in the 
world : they are so much taken up with the things of time, the vain and 
perishing things of the world, they never get time to look up unto and call 
upon God." — Ralph Erskine. 

Closet Promise. — I will be thy King. — Hosea xiii. 10. 

How glad we are that He Himself is our King ! For we are so sure that 
He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself in this inner kingdom 
which we cannot govern at all. Lord, be Thou my King this day ! Reign 
more absolutely in me than ever before. 



174 



THIRTEENTH WKKK. 



SATURDAY. 

The Recall. — Hosea xiv. 



1 O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God ; 
for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 

2 Take with you words, and turn to the 
Lord : say unto him. Take away all iniquity, 
and receive us graciously : so will we render 
the calves of our lips. 

3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride 
upon horses: neither will we say any more to 
the work of our hands, Ye are our gods : for in 
thee the fatherless findeth mercy. 

4^1 will heal their backsliding, I will love 
them freely : for mine anger is turned away from 
him. 

5 I will be as the dew unto Israel : he shall 
grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as 
Lebanon. 



6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty 
shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as 
Lebanon. 

7 They that dwell under his shadow shall re- 
turn ; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as 
the vine ; the scent thereof shall be as the wine 
of Lebanon. 

8 Ephraim shall say. What have I to do any 
more with idols? I have heard him, and ob- 
served him ; I am like a green fir tree. From 
me is thy fruit found. 

9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these 
things ? prudent, and he shall know them ? for 
the ways of the LORU are right, and the just 
shall walk in them : but the transgressors shall 
fall therein. 



Thank God that He does not let His children go on comfortably when 
they wander and fall ! 

" Have we not known (God grant we may never again know !) a wretched 
mental nausea, a sense of discomfort and restlessness, a misgiving that some- 
thing is wrong, though we can't say what? no actual pain, no acute attack 
of anything, but a nameless uncomfortableness, most easily described by a 
negative, that we are not ' as in months past.' " — F. R. Havergal. 

If this is the present state of any, do not remain one day — no, not one 
hour — in this most dangerous state, the beginning of backsliding, and already 
a fall from your " own steadfastness " and your " first love." Do not shrink 
from asking Him to show you how and why it is that you have fallen. 
" Return again unto me, saith the Lord." 

"And why ? Five infinitely gracious reasons are given. ' Return ! . . . . 
for \ho\i hast fallen by thine iniquity ;' the very thing which seemed the 
barrier to return ! ' Return ! . . . . for I am merciful, saith the Lord.' 
' Return ! . . . . for I have redeemed thee.' ' Return ! . . . . for the Lord 
hath dealt bountifully with thee.' ' Come, and let us return unto the Lord : 
for He hath torn, and He will heal us.' All these gracious words for you ! 
and the Lord Himself waiting that He may be gracious ! Will you keep 
Him waiting till a more ' convenient season ?' " — F. R. Havergal. 

And then — oh, what wealth of promise' to the returning one ! what robes 
and rings and heavenly music ! For He hath said, " I will heal their back- 
sliding, I will love them freely." 

Closet Promise. — I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely. 
—Hosea xiv. 4. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 175 



Return ! 

O fallen ; yet not lost ! 

Can'st thou forget the life for thee laid down, 

The taunts, the scourging, and the thorny crown ? 

When o'er thee first My spotless robe I spread 



And poured the oil of joy upon thy head, 
How did thy wakening heart within thee burn ! 
Can'st thou remember all, and wilt thou not 
return ? 

— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — The Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. — Psa. 
:;xvi. 7. 

Weekly Proverb. — A quarrelsome Man has no good Neighbors. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— THE WINDOWS OF THE BIBLE. 

Sunday. — ^The Window of Deliverance. — Josh. ii. 1-24. 

Monday. — Of Communion. — Gen. vi. 14-22. 

Tuesday. — Of Prayer. — Dan. vi. 10-17. 

Wednesday. — Of Disappointment. — Judges v. 1-3 1. 

Thursday. — Of Destruction. — 2 Kings ix. 30-37. 

Friday. — A Window Opened to Destroy. — Gen. vii. 1-24. 

Saturday. — A Window Opened to Blessing. — Mai. iii. 8-12. 

GETTING ACQUAINTED. 



I got acquainted very quick 
With Teddy Brown, when he 

Moved in the house across the street. 
The nearest one you see. 

I climbed and sat upon a post 
To look, and so did he; 



I stared and stared across at him, 
And he stared back at me. 

I s'posed he wanted me to speak, 

I thought I'd try and see — 
I said, " Hello ! " to Teddy Brown; 

He said, " Hello ! " to me. 

— Sydney Dayre, in "Si. Nicholas." 



Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry. — Eccles. vii. 9. 

Dear children, I wonder if any of you are troubled with a bad temper, so 
that you get angry with \'our brothers and sisters, arid even your kind 
parents sometimes? Well, if you will listen I will tell you a good way to 
get control of it. Good Mrs. James, who was a dear friend of the little 
folks, tells of a little girl, who, one day, came crying to her grandm.a, and 
said, " I have tried and tried and tried, and can't help getting angry. I want 
to be good, but I can't. " Pier grandma said, " You can't help it, my dear, 
because you have a wicked heart ; you must ask Jesus to give you a new 
heart, and He will keep you from getting angry. " Soon afterwards little 
Annie was found on her knees, praying, " Dear Jesus, do please take the 
naughty all away, and make me good." From that time Annie was so 
sweet in her temper that everybody noticed the change. One day her 



176 THIRTEENTH WEEK. ♦ 

grandma heard Annie's brother teasing her, and she looked into the room 
where they were, and saw the Httle girl with her finger pressed upon her 
lips. Afterwards she said, " Grandma, when brother came to worry me, I 
did as you told me to do, I just put my finger right over my mouth as tight 
as I could, so that no naughty words could come out, and then prayed to 
Jesus to help me." And Jesus did help her; and He will help you. 



FOURTEENTH V/EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteous- 
ness. — Prov. i6 : 31. 



And when I at last must throw oft" this frail 
covering 
Which I've worn for threescore years and 
ten, 
On the brink of the grave I'll not seek to keep 
hovering, 
Nor my thread wish to spin o'er again : 



But my face in the glass I'll serenely survey, 
And with smiles count each wrinkle and 
furrow ; 
As this old worn-out stuff, which is thread-bare 
to-day, 
May become everlasting to-morrow. 

— Jo hit Collins. 

Woe to the man who becomes old without becoming wise ; woe to him 
if this world shuts the door without the future opening to him its portals. 
— Tholuck. 

As I hke a young man in whom there is something of the old, so I like 
an old man to whom there is something of the young. — Cicero. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 
SUNDAY. 

God our Rock. — Psalm Ixii. 



1 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from 
him Cometh my salvation. 

2 He only is my rock and my salvation ; he 
is my defence ; I shall not be greatly moved. 

3 How long will ye imagine mischief against 
a man ? ye shall be slain all of you : as a bow- 
ing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. 

4 They only consult to cast him down from 
his excellency : they delight in lies : they bless 
with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. 
Selah. 

5 My soul, wait thou only upon God : for 
my expectation is from him. 

6 He only is my rock and my salvation : he 
is my defence; I shall not be moved. 

7 In God is my salvation and my glory : the 



rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in 
God. 

8 Trust in him at all times ; ye people, pour 
out your heart before him : God is a refuge 
for us. Selah. 

9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and 
men of high degree are a lie : to be laid in the 
balance, they are altogether lighter than van- 
ity. 

10 Trust not in oppression, and become not 
vain in robbery : if riches increase, set not 
your heart upon them. 

11 God hath spoken once; twice have I 
heard this ; that power belongeth unto God. 

12 Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy : 
for thou renderest to every man according to 
his work. 



In this Psalm there is not one single word throughout, " in which the 
prophet expresses/mr or dejection ; and there is also no prayer in it, although, 
on other occasions, when in danger, he never omits to pray." It is a 
splendid example of the full assurance or perfection of faith. 

Athanasius says of this Psalm : "Against all attempts upon thy body, 
thy state, thy soul, thy fame, temptations, tribulations, machinations, def- 
amations, say this Psalm." 

From the frequent use of the word ''only" this has been called by some 

(177) 



178 



FOURTEENTH WE^EK. 



The Only Psalm. " We cannot too often hear the toll of that great bell 
only ; let it ring the death-knell of all carnal reliances, and lead us to cast 
ourselves on the bare arm of God." 

" They trust not God at all who trust him not alone. He that stands 
with one foot on a rock, and another foot upon a quicksand, will sink and 
perish, as certainly as he that standeth with both feet upon a quicksand, 
David knew this, and therefore calleth earnestly upon his soul (for his busi- 
ness lay most within doors) to trust only upon God." — Johfi Trapp. 



Closet Promise. — The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my de- 
liverer ; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust. — Psalm xviii. 2. 



In the rifted Rock I'm resting, 

Safely sheltered I abide, 
There no foes nor storms molest me, 

While within the cleft I hide. 



In the rifted Rock I'll hide me 
Till the storms of life are past. 

All secure in this, blest refuge, 
Heeding not the fiercest blast. 

— Mrs. Mary D. James. 



MONDAY. 

Quiet Growth of the Church. — Luke xvii. 20-37. 



20 \ And when he was demanded of the 
Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should 
come, he answered them and said, The king- 
dom of God Cometh not with observation : 

21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo 
there ! for, behold, the kingdom of God is 
within you. 

22 And he said unto the disciples. The days 
will come when ye shall desire to see one of 
the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not 
see it. 

23 And they shall say to you, See here; 
or, see there : go not after the7n, nor follow 
them. 

24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out 
of the one part under heaven, shineth unto 
the other part under heaven ; so shall also the 
Son of man be in his day. 

25 But first must he suffer many things, and 
be rejected of this generation. 

26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so 
so shall it be also in the days of the Son of 
man. 

27 They did eat, they drank, they married 
wives, they were given in marriage, until the 
day that Noah entered into the ark, and the 
flood came, and destroyed them all. 

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of 



Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, 
they sold, they planted, they builded : 

29 But the same day that Lot went out of 
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, 
and destroyed them all. 

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the 
Son of man is revealed. 

31 In that day, he which shall be upon the 
housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him 
not come down to take it away : and he that 
is in the field, let him likewise not return 
back. 

32 Remember Lot's wife. 

33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall 
lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall 
preserve it. 

34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two 
men in one bed ; the one shall be taken, and 
the other shall be left. 

35 Two women shall be grinding together ; 
the one shall be taken, and the other left. 

36 Two men shall be in the field ; the one 
shall be taken, and the other left. 

37 And they answered and said unto him, 
Where, Lord ? And he said unto them, Where- 
soever the body is, thither will the eagles be 
gathered together. 



''The Kingdom of God conieth not zuith Obsen'ation." — "God is building 
up a kingdom that is invisible ; a kingdom that cannot be discovered by 
the outward man ; a spiritual kingdom of holy thoughts, of pure feelings, 



MONDAY. 



179 



of faith, of hope, of righteousness. This kingdom advances little by little, 
some here and some there, all over the world. It is carried forward by a million 
different causes. God administers it Himself, and He means that it shall be 
perfected. He is determined that the whole world shall be filled with His 
glory. This kingdom progresses very slowly. It meets with great opposi- 
tion — so great that sometimes you cannot tell whether it is going backward 
or forward. But God, who is building this great kingdom, sees that though, 
on account of its magnitude, it is advancing slowly, yet it is advancing 
surely. You cannot build a great house so quickly as you can a small one, 
nor a city as quickly as you can a house. If God was going to build His 
kingdom in one family. He might do it quickly ; but as He is to do it in 
all the families of every country, the work is so vast that it cannot be done 
in a daj^, nor in a year, nor in rolling ages. It takes time to build things 
that are to be so well built and so glorious as God's kingdom will be when 
it is completed." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — As thy days, so shall thy strength be. — Deut. xxxiii. 25. 

We live only a day at a time, and hence only need strength for the day. 
O, if we could only realize this, how much lighter the burdens of life would be ! 

STRENGTH FOR THE DAY. 



The morning breaks in clouds, the rain is falling. 

Upon the pillows still I sigh for rest : 
But yet I hear so many voices calling 

To work by which my burdened soul is 
pressed, 

That I can only pray, 
" Strength for the day." 

'Tis not a prayer of faith, but weak repining, 
For with the words there comes no hope, no 
light ; 
In other lives a morning sun is shining. 



While mine is but a change from night to 
night ; 

So while I weep I pray, 
" Strength for the day." 

For it is hard to work in constant shadow, 
Climbing with tired feet an up-hill road ; 
And so, while my weak heart dreads each to- 
morrow. 
And once more I lift my heavy load. 
Desponding, still I pray, 
" Strength for the day." 



Now, looking back to the long hours ended, 

I wonder why I feared them as they came ; 
Each brought the strength on which its task 
depended, 
And so the prayer was answered just the 
same. 

Now with new faith I pray 
" Strength for each day." 

For in the one just closed I've learned how 
truly 
God's help is equal to our need ; 
Sufficient for each hour it Cometh newly, 



If we but follow where its teachings lead, 
Believing when we pray, 
'• Strength for the day." 

He who has felt the load which we are bearing, 
Who walked each step along the path we 
tread, 
Is ever for His weary children caring. 

And keeps the promise made us when He 
said 

He'd give us all the way 

" Strength for the day," — Selected, 



180 FOURTEENTH WEEK. 

TUESDAY. 

The Law of Christian Conscience. — i Cor. viii. 

1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, , idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto 
we know that w? all have knowledge. Knowl- | an idol ; and their conscience being weak is de- 
edge puffelh up, but charity edifieth. tiled. 

2 And if any man think that he knoweth i 8 But meat commendeth us not to God : for 
any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought ' neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, 
to know. \ if we eat not, are we the worse. 

3 But if any man love God, the same is [ 9 But take heed lest by any means this lib- 
known of him. I erty of yours become a stumblingblock to them 

4 As concerning therefore the eating of \ that are weak. 

those things that are offered in sacrifice unto \ 10 For if any man see thee which hast knowl- 
idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the edge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not 
world, and that there is none other God but the conscience of him which is weak be em- 



one. 

5 For though there be that are called gods, 
I'hether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods 1 1 1 And through thy knowledge shall the 



boldened to eat those things which are offered 
to idols : 



many, and lords many), 

6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, 
of whom are all things, and we in him : and 
one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, 
and we by him. 

7 Howbeit there is not in every man that 
knowledge : for some with conscience of the 



weak brother perish, for whom Christ died ? 

12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, 
an'd wound their weak conscience, ye sin against 
Christ. 

13 "wherefore, if meat make my brother to 
offend, I will eat no flesh while the world 
standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. 



"A noble instance of Paul's principles. If all Christians had Paul's del- 
icate .sensibilities, and Paul's strength of Christian virtue, and Paul's willing- 
ness to deny himself, in order to benefit others, how soon would the aspect 
of the Christian world change ! How many practices, now freely indulged 
in, would be abandoned ! " — A. Barnes. 

"Out of the writings, and sayings, and deeds, of those who loudly pro- 
claim ' the rights of man,' and the ' rights of liberty,' match us, if you can, 
with one sentence so sublime, so noble, — one that will so stand at the bar 
of God hereafter, — as this single, glorious sentence of his, in which he 
asserts the rights of Christian conscience above the claims of Christian lib- 
erty : " Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh 
while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." — F. W. Rob- 
BTtson. 

Closet Promise. — Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying. 
This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when 
ye turn to the left. — Isa. xxx. 21. 

This morning's waking was the touch of His hand. Last week's plan of 
life or study was looked down upon with His sympathetic notice. When 
you left home the other day, your heart devised your way, but the Lord 
did really direct your steps. When you prayed that God would keep those 
you left there, your prayer was vcnl)- heard; and, whether by granting or 



TUESDAY 



181 



denying, it will be God Himself that answers you, — the personal, listening, 
loving God. — F. D. Huntington, D. D. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Meaning of the Passover. — Ex. xii. 21-36. 



21 ^Then Moses called for all the- elders of 
Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take 
you a lamb according to your families, and kill 
the passover. 

22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and 
dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike 
the lintel and the two side posts with the blood 
that win the basin: and none of you shall go 
out at the door of his house until the morning. 

23 For the Lord will pass through to smite 
the Egyptians ; and when he seeth the blood 
upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the 
Lord will pass over the door, and will not suf- 
fer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to 
smite you. 

24 And ye shall observe this thing for an or- 
dinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 

25 And it shall come to pass, when y? be 
come to the land which the Lord will give you, 
according as he hath promised, that ye shall 
keep this service. 

26 And it shall come to pass, when your 
children shall say unto you. What mean ye by 
this service ? 

27 That ye shall say. It is the sacrifice of the 
Lord's passover, who passed over the houses 
of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he 
smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. 
And the people bowed the head and wor- 
shipped. 

28 And the children of Israel went away, 
and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and 
Aaron, so did they. 



29 \ And it came to pass, that at midnight the 
Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of 
Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on 
his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that 
was in the dungeon ; and all the firstborn of 
cattle. 

30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and 
all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and 
there was a great cry in Egypt : for there was 
not a house where there was not one dead. 

31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by 
night, and said. Rise up, and get you forth from 
among my people, both ye and the children of 
Israel ; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have 
said. 

32 Also take your flocks and your herds, ns 
ye have said, and be gone ; and bless me also. 

33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the 
people, that they might send them out of the 
land in haste ; for they said, We be all dead 
men. 

34 And the people took their dough before it 
v/as leavened, their kneadingtroughs being 
bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. 

35 And the children of Israel did according 
to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of 
the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of 
gold, and raiment : 

36 And the Lord gave the people favour in 
the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent 
unto them such things as they required: and 
they spoiled the Egyptians. 



Christ was slain for us in the same sense that the Passover was slain for 
the Hebrews (i Cor. v. 7, 8). It was not enough that the blood was shed, 
it had to be applied to every household. Christ died upon the cross, but 
that fact will be of no avail to any one who makes of it no personal appli- 
cation to himself That precious blood will secure salvation to no one who 
does not get down under the cross, where some of its droppings may fall 
upon him. 

The blood shall be for a token. " When I see the blood I will pass over 
you." The Israelites were spared that night, not for the sake of their works, 
nor for their genealogies, but for the blood. The destroying angel did not 
look at them, but at the blood-sprinkled lintels. He did not look at their 
faith, nor their repentance, but simply at the crimson' stains upon the door 



182 



FOURTEENTH WEEK. 



posts. So our salvation is purchased, not by our works, nor by our faith, 
nor by our repentance, but by the precious blood of Christ. "Apart from 
shedding of blood there is no remission." Repentance and faith merely 
appropriate what grace has done. 

"This month shall be unto you the beginning of months" (ver. 2). The 
keeping of this Passover marked a new departure for them. Henceforth 
the old system of marking the progress of the year, when they were slaves, 
was to be done away with now that they were to be free men. Formerly 
they had begun with the fall of the year — now, most appropriately, they 
were to commence with the spring-time ! They were to start out on a new 
era with Jehovah. Their bitter years of bondage were as if they forever 
were blotted out. They were to start out upon their journey to the prom- 
ised land. The chief of their months was to be that in which that journe)'- 
was begun. And how closely that applies to the redemption month of the 
Christian! Is there any other month so dear to him. as that? Then his 
life ceased to be made bitter with bondage, and he became a free man in 
Christ. His real life dates from this new birth. 

Closet Promise. — All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him 
Amen, unto the glory of God by us. — 2 Cor. i. 20. 

Why should not the FulfiUer of tj'^pes and prophecies that waited His 
coming through the hoary centuries answer human expectations and hopes 
through the effectual working of His power? The promises of God in the 
Gospel are the complement of the foreshadowing of Christ in the Old Tes- 
tament; and the Old and the New are complete in Him. The certainty of 
the past is the pledge of the future. — C. S. Harrmgton, D. D. 

THURSDAY. 

The Peace of the Upright. — Psalm cxii. 



1 Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man 
that feareth the Lord, ///a/' delighteth greatly in 
his commandments. 

2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth : the 
generation of the upright shall be blessed. 

3 Wealth and riches shall he in his house : 
;ind his righteousness endureth for ever. 

4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the 
darkness : he is gracious and full of compassion, 
and righteous. 

5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth : 
he will guide his affairs with discretion. 



6 Surely he shall not be moved for ever : the 
righteous .shall be in everlasting remembrance. 

7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his 
heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. 

8 His heart is established, he shall not be 
afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. 

9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the 
poor ; his righteousness endureth for ever ; his 
iiorn shall be exalted with honour. 

10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; 
he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: 
the desire of the wicked shall perish. 



The subject of this Psalm is the blessedness of the righteous man. Here 
are rehearsed the blessings which God is wont to bestow on the godly; and 



THURSDAY. 



183 



it is intended to give to God all the honor of His grace which is manifested 
in the sons of God. 

"Unto the upright there ariseth light hi the dai'kness." " He will have his 
days of darkness, he may be sick and sorry, poor and pining, as well as 
others ; his former riches may take to themselves wings and fly away, while 
even his righteousness may be cruelly suspected ; thus the clouds may lower 
around him, but his gloom shall not last forever, the Lord will bring him 
light in due season, for as surely as a good man's sun goes down it shall 
rise again. If the darkness be caused by depression of spirit, the Holy 
Ghost will comfort him ; if by pecuniary loss or personal bereavement, the 
presence of Christ shall be his solace ; and if by the cruelty and malignity 
of men, the sympathy of his Lord shall be his support. It is as ordinary 
for the righteous to be comforted as for the day to dawn. Wait for the 
light and it will surely come; for even if our heavenly Father should in our 
last hours put us to bed in the dark, we shall find it morning when we 
awake." — C. H. Spur g eon. 

Closet Promise. — Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is 
stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. — Isa. xxvi. 3. 



Oh for a pencil dipt in light, 

In light, dear Lord, from Thee, 
To paint, in colors clear and bright. 
In tints of purity, 

The perfect peace, the perfect rest, 
Of these who lean on Jesus' breast ! 

The clouds may gather, billows swell ; 

In grief we seem to sit ; 
But Jesus whispers, " It is well," 
In loving tones and sweet — 

And clouds disperse, and waves are o'er, 
And dove-like Peace descends once more ! 



Oh! like the "Minster's" painted glass, 

Outside all dull and dim, 
Men see no beauty as they pass ; 
But lo ! once stand withiti. 
And irridescent lustre streams, 
And light from Heaven in glory gleams ! 

Dear Jesus ! all the love and light. 

Our earth-bound spirits see, 
Is radiance holy, pure and bright, 
Reflected still from Thee ! 

Thy radiance is around us thrown. 
Thy comeliness is all our own ! 

— Elizabeth Nicholson. 



FRIDAY. 

Strengthening Hands. — Isa. xxxv. 



1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall 
be glad for them ; and the desert shall rejoice, 
and blossom as the rose. 

2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice 
even with joy and singing: the glory of Leba- 
non shall be given unto it, the excellency of 
Carmel and Sharon ; they shall see the glory of 
the Lord, and the excellency of our God. 

3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and con- 
firm the feeble knees. 

4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be 
strong, fear not : behold, your God will come 



with vengeance, even God with a recompense; 
he will come and save you. 

5 Then tlie eyes of the blind shall he opened, 
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 

6 Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, 
and the tongue of the dumb sing : for in the 
wilderness shall waters break out, and streams 
in the desert. 

7 And the parched ground shall become a 
pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in 
the habitation of dragons, where each lay, 
shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 



184 



FOURTEENTH WEEK. 



8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found 
and it shall be called The way of holiness; the there ; but the redeemed shall walk there : 
unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be lo And the ransomed of the Lord shall re- 
for those : the wayfaring men, though fools, turn, and come to Zion with songs and ever- 
shall not err therein. lasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain 

9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 

Hee away. 

" Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees " (ver. 3). 
Do we not find plenty of these around us ? Those very near us often need 
strengthening ; are we right if they have practically to look farther for the 
help which might be ours to give ? 

" How shall we set about it? First, by prayer, as Aaron and Hur held 
up the hands of Moses. ' Helping together by prayer.' This reaches all. 
Who knows how much of the weakness of hands, which distresses or even 
annoys us, rnay be laid at our door because we talked about it instead of 
praying about it? Very likely, names will occur to us now; then take 
those names at once to the Mighty One, and ask Him to strengthen those 
weak hands and confirm those feeble knees. 

" Secondly, by personal contact. I suppose we never come in contact with 
one who is really strong in the Lord without being strengthened, whether 
we feel it or not. But we should not be content with the unconscious in- 
fluence which it is our singular privilege to radiate. 'Jonathan arose, and 
went to David in the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.' Arising 
always implies a little effort. Then make it ! " — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and 
come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall 
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away, — Isa. xxxv. 
10. 

" 'Tis but a little while, 
Jesus hath said ; 
This shall my way beguile. 



And gladness shed; 
Then Thou Thyself will come, 
Jesus, to take me home ; 

So let it be ! 



Home ! where my dear ones dwell, 

Gone on before ! 
Blest Home ! where all is well 

For evermore ! 
Home of the angels bright. 
Home of the saints of light, 

Home of my God ! " 



SATURDAY. 

Nearest to Christ. — Mark x. 32-45. 



32 ^ And they were in the way going up to 
Jerusalem ; and Jesus went before them : and 
they were amazed ; and as they followed, they 
were afraid. And he took again the twelve, 
and began to tell them what things should 
happen unto him, 

33 Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem ; 
and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the 



chief piiests, and unto the scribes ; and they 
shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver 
him to the Gentiles : 

34 And they shall mock him, and shall 
scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall 
kill him; and the third day he shall rise 
again. 

35 And James and John, the sons of Zeb- 



SATURDAY. 



185 



edee, come unto him, saying, Master, we 
would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever 
we shall desire. 

36 And he said unto them, What would ye 
that I should do for you? 

37 They said unto him. Grant unto us that 
we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the 
other on thy left hand in thy glory. 

38 But Jesus said unto them. Ye know not 
what ye ask : can ye drink of the cup that I 
drink of? and be baptized with the baptism 
that I am baptized with ? 

39 And they said unto him, We can. And 
Jesus said unlo them, Ye shall indeed drink 
of the cu|i that I drink of; and with the bap- 
tism tliat I am baptized withal shall ye be 
baptized : 

40 But to sit on my right hand and on my 



left hand is not mine to give; h\iX it shall be 
given to them for whom it is prepared. 

41 And when the ten heard // they began to 
be much displeased with James and John. 

42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith 
unto them. Ye know that they which are ac- 
counted to rule over the Gentiles exercise 
lordship over them ; and their great ones exer- 
cise authority upon them. 

43 But so shall it not be among you : but 
whosoever will be great amortg you, shall be 
your minister : 

44 And whosoever of you will be the chief- 
est, shall be servant of all. 

45 For even the Son of man came not to be 
ministered unto, but to minister and to give his 
life a ransom for many. 



" Was there ever a more unrea.sonable request, than for them to be suitors 
for great places to Him, when He had but now told them He was going to 
be spit upon, scourged, condemned, crucified? Yet there was this good in 
it ; they by it discovered a faith in Him, that notwithsanding all this He 
should be exalted and have a kingdom. But how carnal are our concep- 
tions of spiritual and heavenly things till we are taught by God a right 
notion of them ! " — Matthczv Pool. 

" Men are coming to God as the mother of Zebedee's children came to 
Christ, when she asked that her two sons might sit, the one on his right 
hand and the other on his left hand in his kingdom. And God is saying 
perpetually in his providence, 'Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall 
drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ? ' If 
you can, then the crown may be yours." — H. W. Beecher. 

" He is the most lovefy professor who is the most lozufy professor." — Arch- 
bishop Seeker. 

" Love serves, and can not help it. . . . Love is self-sacrifice ; it is service. 
Now the gauge of religion is the intensity and the productiveness of the love 
principle. He is the greatest, and is growing most into the likeness of 
Christ, not that has the most scope intellectually ; not that is the most fer- 
tile in his moral nature ; not that is the most rapturous in his emotions ; 
not that sings with the most spirit and understanding ; not that prays with 
the most devotion, but that has the strongest and finest current of dis- 
interested benevolence, and this is the spirit of Christ's declaration, 
' Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.' " — H. 
W. Beecher. 



Closet Promise. — I have loved thee with an everlasting love ; therefore 
with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. — Jer. xxxi. 3. 



186 



FOURTEENTH WEEK. 



"Child of My love, lean hard, 

And let Me feel the pressure of thy care. 

I know thy burden, child, I shaped it. 

Poised it in My own hand; made no proportion 

In its weight to thine unaided strength ; 

For even as I kid it down I said 

I shall be near, and while he leans on Me 

The burden shall be Mine, not his — 

So shall I keep My child within the circling 



Of My own love. Here lay it down, nor fear 
To impose it on a shoulder which upholds 
The government of worlds ! Yet closer come. 
Thou art not near enough ! I would embrace 

thy care. 
So would I feel My child reposing on My 

breast. . 
Thou lovest Me ? I know it ! Doubt not, then, 
But, loving Me, lean hard." 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Be content with such things as ye have. — Heb. 
xiii. 5. 

Weekly Proverb. — If you would be loved, love and be lovable. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SEVEN THINGS ABOUT SIN. 

Sunday.— ^m is Folly. — Psalm xlix. 1-13. 

Monday. — Sin is Darkness. — Prov. iv. 19; John iii. 18-21 ; Col. i. 12, 13. 
Tuesday. — Sin is Sickness. — Isa. i. 5, 6; Matt. ix. 12. 
Wednesday. — Sin is Poison. — Num. xxi. 1-9 ; Psa. Iviii. 3-5 ; Rom. iii. 
10-18. 

Thursday. — Sin is Death. — Rom. v. 12; vi. 23; vii. 5 ; Jas. i. 15. 

Friday. — Sin is Hell. — Luke xii. 4, 5; xvi. 19-31. 

Saturday. — Conclusion. — John i. 29; Rom. v. 8 ; i John i. 7; Isa. i. 18. 



I'LL THINK OF THEE. 



I look to Thee in every need, 

And never look in vain ; 
I feel Thy strong and tender love, 

And all is well again. 
The thought of Thee is mightier far 
Than sin and pain and sorrow are. 



Discouraged in the work of life, 

Disheartened by its load. 
Shamed by its failures or its fears, 

I sink beside the road ; 
But let me only think of Thee, 
And then new heart springs up in me. 

—Hymns of the Spirit. 



Give to the poor. — Matt. xix. 21. 

I like to see little children kind to the poor. Did you ever hear of James 
Bundy, of Bristol, England ? He was a good man ; on Saturday evenings 
he used to visit the markets to do good to the poor. If he saw a poor person 
at a butcher's stall asking the price of a piece of meat, and then turning away 
for want of more money, he would call him back, saying, " What can you 
afford to give?" On being told how much, he would hand out enough 
more to help the poor man to make the purchase. Besides this, he regu- 
larly distributed large quantities of provisions to the poor of his acquaint- 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 189 

ance. The Bible says, " He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the 
Lord ; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." A father gave 
his little boy a half-dollar one day and told him he might do whatever he 
pleased with it. At night the father asked after the half-dollar, and the 
little fellow told him that he had lent it. " Did you get good security for 
it?" was asked. "Yes, sir." "Have you a note?" "No, sir." "What, 
then ? " "Nothing!'' " How, then, have you managed it ? " " WJiy, I gave 
it to a poor beggar!' " You haven't any security for it, then ? " "Yes, sir ; 
the best security ; for the Bible says he that giveth to the poor lendeth t<^ the 
Lord!' The father was so pleased that he gave him another half-dollar. 
"There, father" said the boy, "I told you I should get it again, only I did not 
think it woidd come so soon!' 



FRIENDS OR FOES. 

That great poet, William Shakespeare, has written a poem which tells us 
how we may distinguish between Friends and Foes. Here it is : 

Every one that flatters thee 
Is no friend in misery : 
Words are easy like the wind ; 
Faithful friends 'tis hard to find ; 
Every man will be thy friend, 
While thou hast wherewith to spend. 
But if store of crowns be scant. 
No man will supply thy want. 
If that one be prodigal, 
Bountiful they will him call : 
If he be addict to vice, 
Quickly him they will entice. 
But if fortune once, do frown, 
Then farewell his great renown ; 
They that fawned on him before, 
Use liis company no more. 
He that is thy friend indeed, 
He will help thee in thy need. 
If thou sorrow, he will weep; 
If thou wake, he cannot sleep. 
Thus of every grief in heart, 
He with thee doth bear a part. 
These are certain signs to know 
Faithful Friend from flattering Foe. 



FIFTEENTH ^VEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially 
unto them who are of the household of faith. — Gal. vi. lo. 



A little word in kindness spoken, 
A motion, or a tear. 



as often heal'd the heart that's broken 
And made a friend sincere. 

—Selected. 



If I can put one touch of a rosy sunset into the hfe ot any man or woman 
I shall feel that I have worked with God. — Geo. McDonald. 

I have been benefited by praying for others ; for making an errand to 
God for them I have got something for myself — Rutherford. 

Have every day lower thoughts of yourselves, higher thoughts of your 
Christ, kinder thoughts of your brethren, and more hopeful thoughts of all 
around you. — Fletcher. 

Life affords but few opportunities of doing great services for others ; but 
there is scarcely an hour of the day that does not afford us an opportunity 
of performing some little, it may be unnoticed, kindness. — Bowes. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 
SUNDAY. 



Peter's Miraculous Deliverance. — Acts xli. 1-19. 



1 Now about that time Herod the king 
stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the 
church. 

2 And he killed James the brother of John 
with the sword. 

3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he 
proceeded further to take Peter also. Then 
were the days of unleavened bread. 

4 And when he had apprehended him, he 
put him in prison, and delivered him to four 
quarternions of soldiers to keep him ; intending 
after Easter to bring him forth to the people. 

5 Peter therefore was kept in prison : but 
prayer was made without ceasing of the church 
unto God for him. 

6 And when Herod would have brought him 
forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between 
two soldiers, bound with two chains : and the 
keepers before the door kept the prison. 

7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came 
upon him, and a light shined in the prison : and 
he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, 
saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell 
off from his hands. 

(190) 



8 And the angel said unto him. Gird thyself, 
and bind on thy sandals : and so he did. And 
he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, 
and follow me. 

9 And he went out and followed him ; and 
wist not that it was true which was done by the 
angel ; but tliought he saw a vision. 

10 When they were past the first and the 
second ward, they came unto the iron gate that 
leadeth unto the city; wliich opened to tliem of 
his own accord : and they went out, and passed 
on through one street ; and forthwith the angel 
departed from him. 

11 And when Peter was come to himself, he 
said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord 
hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out 
of the hand of Herod, and froTti all the expec- 
tation of the people of the Jevifs. 

12 And when he had considered the thing, he 
came to the house of Mary the mother of John, 
whose surname was Mark ; where many were 
gathered together praying. 

13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the 
gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda, 



SUNDAY. 



191 



14 And when she knew Peter's voice, she 
opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and 
told how Peter stood before the gate. 

15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. 
But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. 
Then said they, It is his angel. 

16 But Peter continued knocking: and when 
they had opened the door, and saw him, they 
were astonished. 

17 But he, beckoning unto them with the 
hand to hold their peace, declared unto them 
how the Lord had brought him out of the 



prison. And he said. Go shew these things 
unlo James, and to the brethren. And he de- 
parted, and went into another place. 

1 8 Now as soon as it was day, there was no 
small stir among the soldiers, what was become 
of Peter. 

19 And when Herod had sought for him, 
and found him not, he examined the keepers, 
and commanded that they should be put to 
death. And he went down from Judea to 
Cesarea, and there abode. 



" This chapter enshrines one of the gems of apostolic history." 

" The picture opened before us in the dungeon at Jerusalem is one of the 
sublimest in all history. The weather-beaten fisherman of Galilee, suddenly 
arrested in the impetuous current of his apostolical labors, lies chained on 
either side to a Roman soldier, sleeping. Around him are all the symbols 
of terror. There are the cold, damp walls of the cell, the cheerless bed of 
straw, the barred and bolted door, the manacles upon his wrists ; but lie 
sleeps! The prospect is such as to unnerve the stoutest heart. The fury 
of the mob as he passes to the court of Herod in the morning, the malig- 
nant accusations of the priesthood, the mockery of the guards, the cold and 
selfish sentence of the king, the dense mob again, the scaffold in the market- 
place or the cross on the hill — all these seem to rise up in the immediate 
future; but he sleeps ! Thoughts of early life might have broken on his rest 
— memories of the days when he was wont to fish in the quiet lake ; and he 
might have longed that the interval had been but a dream; but it was not 
so. There he lay, heavily chained, but sleeping ! Outside the prison-walls 
was the Jewish world ; many were thinking of the prisoner ; some plotting 
accusations and longing for his blood, thrilled with the anticipation of the 
tragedy of the morrow ; but there lay the designated victim in all the calm 
and quiet of infancy. 'And when Herod was about to bring him forth, the 
same niglit Peter was sleeping' And ' so He giveth His beloved sleep.' " 
—R. R. Meredith, D. D. 

" But" there was a power at work of which the King had not dreamed ; 
there was a prayer-meeting of the church that night in Jerusalem. God 
heard that prayer, and sent an angel to execute his will. At the command 
of the heavenly visitant, bar after bar loosens, door after door turns on its 
hinges, and Peter is free. Then all need of miracle was over, and the angel 
departed, leaving Peter in a state of bewilderment. But, recovering from 
his astonishment, and devoutly recognizing the hand of God in his deliver- 
ance, Peter proceeded at once " to the house of Mary." 

Here we left the church in earnest prayer. When the portress reported 
Peter's presence at the gate, they declared she was mad. They had prayed 



192 



FIFTEENTH WEEK, 



for his deliverance ; and now that it had been effected, they could not be- 
lieve it! Alas ! it has been often so since. Our faith is so feeble that when 
an answer to our supplication comes,. it takes us by surprise; whereas, if we 
were really believing, the wonder would be that an answer should not come. 

Closet Promise. — Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 
— John xvi. 24. 



Ask and receive, — 'tis sweetly said; 

Yet what to plead for know I not, 
For wish is worsted, hope o'ersped, 

And aye to thanks returns my thought. 
If I would pray, 



I've naught to say 
But this, that God may be God still ; 

For Him to live 

Is still to give, 
And sweeter than my wish His will. 

— David A. Wasson. 



MONDAY. 

' The Garnering of the Least Grain.' 



-Amos ix. 



1 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar , 
and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that 
the posts may shake : and cut them in the head, 
all of them ; and I will slay the last of them 
with the sword : he that fleeth of them shall not 
flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall 
not be delivered. 

2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall 
mine hand take them ; though they climb up to 
heaven, thence will I bring them down : 

3 And though they hide themselves in the top 
of Carmel, I will search and take tliem out 
thence ; and though they be hid from my sight 
in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command 
the serpent, and he shall bite them. 

4 And though they go into cnptivity before 
their enemies, thence will I command the sword, 
and it shall slay them : and I will set mine eyes 
upon them for evil, and not for good. 

5 And the Lord God of hosts is he that 
toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that 
dwell therein shall mourn : and it shall rise up 
wholly like a flood ; and shall be drowned, as 
by the flood of Egypt. 

6 // is he that buildeth his stories in the 
heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth ; 
he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and 
poureth them out upon the face of the earth : 
The Lord is his name. 

7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians 
unto me, O children of Israel ? saith the Lord. 
Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of 
Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and 
the Syrians from Kir ? 



8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon 
the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from 
off the face of the earth ; saving that I will not 
utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the 
Lord. 

9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the 
house of Israel among all nations, like as corn 
is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain 
fall upon the earth. 

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by 
the sword, which say. The evil shall not over- 
take nor prevent us. 

11 ^ In that day will I raise up the tabernacle 
of David that is fallen, and close up the 
breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, 
and I will build it as in the days of old : 

12 That they may possess the remnant of 
Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called 
by my name, saith the Lord that docth this. 

13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, 
and the Ireader of grapes him thatsoweth seed; 
and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and 
all the hills shall melt. 

14 And I will bring again, the captivity of 
my people of Israel, and they shall build the 
waste cities, and inhabit them ; and they shall 
plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; 
they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit 
of them. 

15 And I will plant them upon their land, 
and they shall no more be pulled up out of their 
land which I have given them, saith the Lord 
thy God. 



" I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in 
a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth " (ver. 9). The 
whole earth is, as it were, one vast sieve in the hands of God, in which 



MONDAY. 



193 



Israel is shaken from one end to the other. The righteous have been shaken 
up and down, through and through. God sifts them by afflictions and 
troubles, and proves them again and again. The godly man is shaken in a 
sieve, that he may mistrust self, place his hope in God, and the dust of vain- 
glory may be shaken off. He is proved, that it may appear whether he 
cleave to God for the reward of present enjoyment, or for the hope of future, 
for longing for the glory of God and for love of Himself 

And yet, not the least grain, no solid corn, not one soul has been lost, 
which, by the help of God's Holy Spirit, willed truly and earnestly to be 
saved. ' 

"We are glad of that word, ' not the least;' not even me, though less 
than the least of all saints, though feeling as if my only claim upon Christ 
Jesus is that I am the chief of sinners. ' Not the least grain ; ' for He says, 
' Ye shall be gathered one by one.' Think of His hand gathering you 
separately and individually out of His million-sheaved harvest; gathering 
you, one by one always, into His garner, even in that tremendous day of 
sifting, when He shall thoroughly purge his floor. You may feel a little 
overlooked sometimes now ; only one among so very many, and perhaps 
not first nor even second in anybody's love, or care, or interest ; but He is 
watching His ' least grains ' all the time." — F. R. Havergal. 



Closet Promise. — Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.- 
117. 



-Psalm cxix. 



" The way is dark, my child, but leads to light ; 
I would not always have thee walk by sight ! 
My dealings now thou canst not understand; 
I meant it so : but I will take thy hand. 

And through the gloom 

Lead safely home 

My child ! 



" The path is rough, my child ! but at thy side 
Thy Father walks : then be not terrified, 
For I am with thee ; will thy foes command 
To let thee freely pass : will take thy hand, 

And through the throng. 

Lead safe along 

My child ! " 



TUESDAY. 

The Cry of the Oppressed. — Psalm x. 



1 Why standest thou afar off, O LoRD ? 7uhy 
hidest thou thyself in tirnes of trouble. 

2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the 
poor : let them be taken in the devices that they 
have imagined. 

3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's de- 
sire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord 
abhorreth. 

4 The wicked, through the pride of his coun- 
tenance, will not seek after God : God is not in 
all his thoughts. 

5 His ways are always grievous; thy judg- 



ments are far above out of his sight : as for all 
his enemies, he puffeth at them. 

6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be 
moved : for I shall never be in adversity. 

7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and 
fraud : under his tongue is mischief and vanity. 

8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the vil- 
lages : in the secret places doth he murder the 
innocent : his eyes are privily set against the 
poor. 

9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his 
den ; he lieth in wait to catch the poor : he 



194 



FIFTEENTH WEEK. 



doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into 
his net. 

10 He croucheth, <7«d^ humbleth himself, that 
the poor may fall by his strong ones. 

1 1 He hath said in his heart, God hath for- 
gotten : he hideth his face ; he will never see it. 

12 Arise, O Lord ; O God, lift up thine 
hand : forget not tlie humble. 

13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God ? 
he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require 
it. 

14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest 
mischief and spite, to require it with thy hand : 



the poor committeth himself unto thee ; thou 
art the helper of the fatherless. 

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the 
evil man : seek out his wickedness till thou find 
none. 

16 The Lord is King for ever and ever : the 
heathen are perished out of his land. 

17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the 
humble : thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt 
cause thine ear to hear : 

18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, 
that the man of the earth may no more oppress. 



" To the Church of God during times of persecution, and to individual 
saints who are smarting under the hand of the proud sinner, this Psalm 
furnishes suitable language both for prayer and praise." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" Why hidest Thou Thyself in times of trouble ? " " It is not the trouble, 

but the hiding of our Father's face, which cuts us to the quick If 

we need an answer to the question, ' Why hidest thou thyself? ' it is to be 
found in the fact that there is a ' needs-be,' not only for trial, but for heavi- 
ness of heart under trial (l Pet. i. 6); but how could this.be the case, if the 
Lord should shine upon us while he is afflicting us? Should the parent 
comfort his child while he is correcting him, where would be the use of the 
chastening ? A smiling face and a rod are not fit companions. God bares 
the back that the blow may be felt ; for it is only felt affliction which can 
become blest affliction. If we are carried in the arms of God over every 
stream, where would be the trial, and where the experience, which trouble 
is meant to teach us ? " — C. H. Spurgeon. 



Closet Promise. 

xxxviii. 14. 



-O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. — Isa. 



Being perplexed, I say. 
Lord, make it right ! 

Night is as day to Thee, 
Darkness is light. 

I am afraid to touch. 



Things that involve so much ; — 

My trembling hand may shake, 
My skill-less hand may break : 
Thine can make no mistake. 

— Anna Wama 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Symbolical Serpent. — Numb. xxi. 1-9. 



1 And when king Arad the Canaanite, which 
dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came 
by the way of the spies; then he fought against 
Israel, and took some of them prisoners. 

2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, 
and said. If thou wilt indeed deliver this peo- 
ple into my hand, then I will utterly destroy 
their cities. 



3 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of 
Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and 
they utterly destroyed them and their cities : and 
he called the name of the place Hormah. 

4 ^ And they journeyed from mount Hor by 
the way of the Red sea. to compass the land of 
Edom : and the soul of the people was much 
discouraged because of the way. 



WEDNESDAY. 



195 



5 And the people spake against God, and 
against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us 
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness ? for 
there is no bread, neither is there any water ; 
and our soul loatheth this light bread. 

6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among 
the people, and they bit the people ; and much 
people of Israel died. 

7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and 
said. We have sinned, for -^^ have spoken 
against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto 



the Lord, that he take away the serpents from 
us. And Moses prayed for the people. 

8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee 
a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole ; and it 
shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, 
when he looketh upon it, shall live. 

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and 
put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, that if 
a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld 
the serpent of brass, he lived. 



What a good chance skepticism had to make sport ! The idea that the 
mere looking at an image of brass would cure one suffering from a bite so 
poisonous is, in the realm of physics, exceedingly absurd. But then there 
were the facts. Those who looked immediately got well. It did not matter 
what was the condition of the sufferer — his eyes might even be gazing in 
death — if he caught sight of the brazen serpent he lived. So to many it 
appears very foolish that by looking unto Jesus any one can have eternal 
life. But the fact is — they do ! It matters not how deeply the poison of 
sin has penetrated, they become new men from the hour that they look for 
salvation upon Him who was lifted up on the cross. The instances of 
recovery are not a few only — they are numberless. 

Jesus said : "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so 
must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in Him should 
not perish, but have eternal life." The uplifted Son of God ! One look of 
the soul at Him, and we shall be healed ; one expression of deepest trust, 
and the load of guilt shall be removed ; one vision of the meaning of the 
Cro-ss, and all the pain and shame and death, consequent upon guilt, shall 
be done away, and we shall know the meaning of Christ's own words : " I 
am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more 
abundantly." 

Closet Promise. — Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest. — Matt. xi. 28. 



Oppressed with noonday's scorching heat. 

To yonder cross I flee : 
Beneath its shelter take my rest ; 

No shade like this for me ! 

Beneath that cross clear waters burst, 

A fountain sparkling free ; 
And there I quench my desert thirst ; 

No spring like this for me ! 



A stranger here, I pitch my tent 

Beneath this spreading tree ; 
Here shall my pilgrim life be spent ; 

No home like this for me ! 

For burdened ones a resting-place 

Beside that cross I see ; 
Here I cast off my weariness ; 

No rest like this for me ! 

— Horatius Bonar. 



196 



ffiFTE;i;NTH we;e;k. 



THURSDAY. 

Tabor Flights. — Matt. xvii. 1-21. 



1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, 
James, and John, his brother, and bringeth 
them up into a high mountain apart, 

2 And was transfigured before them : and his 
face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was 
white as the light. 

3 And, behold, there appeared unto them 
Moses and Elias talking with him. 

4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, 
Lord, it is good for us to be here : if thou wilt, 
let us make here three tabernacles ; one for thee, 
and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 

5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud 
overshadowed them : and behold a voice out 
of the cloud, which said. This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him. 

6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell 
on their face, and were sore afraid. 

7 And Jesus came and touched them, and 
said, Arise, and be not afraid. 

8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, 
they saw no man, save Jesus only. 

9 And as they came down from the moun- 
tain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision 
to no man, until the Son of man be risen again 
from the dead. 

10 And his disciples asked him, saying. Why 
then say the scribes that Elias must first come ? 

11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, 
Ellas truly shall first come, and restore all 
things. 



12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come 
already, and they knew him not, but have done 
unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise 
shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. 

13 Then the disciples understood that he 
spake unto them of John the Baptist. 

14 \ And when they were come to the multi- 
tude, there came to him a certain man, kneel- 
ing down to him, and saying, 

15 Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is 
lunatic, and sore vexed : for ofttimes he falleth 
into the fire, and oft into the water. 

16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and 
they could not cure him. 

17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faith- 
less and perverse generation, how long shall I 
be with you? how long shall I suffer you? 
bring him hither to me. 

18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he de- 
parted out of him : and the child was cured 
from that very hour. 

19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, 
and said, Why could not we cast him out ? 

20 And Jesus said unto them. Because of 
your unbelief: for verily I say unto you. If ye 
have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall 
say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yon- 
der place ; and it shall remove : and nothing 
shall be impossible unto you, 

21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by 
prayer and fasting. 



" Some Christians seem to think that they must be always going up to 
mounts of extraordinary joy and revelation ; this is not after God's method. 
Those spiritual visits to high places, and that wonderful intercourse with 
the unseen world, are not in the promises ; the daily life of invisible com- 
munion is. And it is enough. We shall have the exceptional revelation 
if it be right for us. When the Master was there, three disciples had it, and 
nine had it not I And why it was when it was, and why those three were 
selected, we can see but few reasons. They were the three who walked the 
closest and dwelt the nearest to the heart of Jesus." — J. Vauglian. 

" There were but three disciples allowed to see the transfiguration, and 
those three entered the gloom of Gethsemane." — Stons. 

No one can stay on the mount of privilege. There are duties in the 
valley. Christ found His lifework, not in His glory, but in the valley, and 
was there truly and fully the Messiah. The value of the vision and glory 
is but their gift of fitness for work and endurance. 



THURSDAY. 



197 



Closet Promise, — The upright shall dwell in Thy presence. — Psalm 
cxl. 13. 

Phoebe Gary has beautifully sung : 



' Oh, if this living soul, that many a tune 
Above the low things of the earth doth climb 
Up to the mountain-top of faith sublime, — 

If she could only stay 

In that high place alway, 

And hear in reverence bowed 

God's voice behind the cloud ; 

'Or if, descending to the earth again, 
Its lesson in the heart might still remain ; 
If we could keep the vision clear and plain. 
Nor let one jot escape, 



So that we still might shape 
Our lives to deeds sublime 
By that exalted time ; 

' Ah ! what a world were ours to journey 

through ! 
What deeds of love and mercy we should do ; 
Making our lives so beautiful and true, 
That in our face would shine 
The light of love divine. 
Showing that we had stood 
Upon the mount of God." 



FRIDAY. 

Carmel. — I Kings xviii. 21-40. 



21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and 
said. How long halt ye between two opinions ? 
if the Lord be God, follow him : but if Baal, 
then follow him. And the people answered 
him not a word. 

22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even 
I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but 
Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 

23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; 
and let them choose one bullock for themselves, 
and cut it in pieces, and lay ;'/ on wood, and put 
no fire jmder : and I will dress the other bul- 
lock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire 
under: 

24 And call ye on the name of your gods, 
and I will call on the name of the Lord : and 
the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. 
And all the people answered and said. It is well 
spoken. 

25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of 
Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, 
and dress it first ; for ye are many ; and call on 
the name of your gods, but put no fire Jinder. 

26 And they took the bullock which was 
given them, and they dressed it, and called on 
the name of Baal from morning even until noon, 
saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no 
voice^ nor any that answered. And they leaped 
upon the altar which was made. 

27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah 
mocked them, and said, Cry aloud : for he is a 
god ; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or 
he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, 
and must be awaked. 

28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves 
after their manner with knives and lancets, till 
the blood gushed out upon them. 



29 And it came to pass, when midday was 
past, and they prophesied until the time of the 
offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was 
neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that 
regarded. 

30 And Elijah said unto all the people. Come 
near unto me. And all the people came near 
unto him. And he repaired the altar of the 
Lord that was broken down. 

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according 
to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, 
unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, 
Israel shall be thy name : 

32 And willi the stones he built an altar in 
the name of the Lord : and he made a trench 
about the altar, as great as would contain two 
measures of seed. 

■^■i, And he put the wood in order, and cut 
the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, 
and said. Fill four barrels with water, and pour 
it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 

34 And he said. Do it the second time. And 
they did it the second time. And he said. Do 
it the third time. And they did it the third 
time. 

35 And the water ran round about the altar ; 
and he filled the trench also with water. 

36 And it came to pass at the time of the 
offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the 
prophet came near, and said. Lord God of 
Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known 
this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I 
am thy servant, and that I have done all these 
things at thy word. 

37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this peo- 
ple may know that thou art the Lord God, and 
that thou hast turned their heart back again. 



198 



FIFTEENTH WEEK. 



38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and con- 
sumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the 
stones, and the dust, and licked up the water 
that was in the trench. 

39 And when all the people saw //, they fell 



on their faces : and they said, The Lord, he is 
the God ; the Lord, he is the God. 

40 And Elijah said unto them. Take the 
prophets of Baal ; let not one of them escape. 
And they took them : and Elijah brought them 
down to the brook Kishon and slew them there. 



" Here is brought before us the grand question which faces every man : 
* Who is your God — Baal, or Jehovah ? sin, or the Holy One ? self, or God ? 
mammon, or Christ ? " This is the question which each one of us has to 
settle for himself. It is needless to disguise the matter, or to shut our eyes 
to it, or to attempt to ignore it. This is the question which every man finds 
confronting him when he awakes to moral consciousness and responsibility, 
and which every day and every action calls upon him to solve. How have 
you solved it? . . . . . There is a battle waging on the earth between good 
and evil, between God and Satan, between Christ and antichrist; and it is 
cowardly in the extreme for you to linger on the outskirts of the field, 
shrouded in the smoke that is issuing from the conflict, and waiting only 
till victory declares itself, that then you may come down and claim the 
honors of a triumph which you did nothing to win. Come forth, and quit 
you like men in this great fight. Take the one side or the other ; and, oh, 
take the side of the Lord Jesus Christ ! ''—W. M. Taylor, D. D. 

The servant of Elisha did not at the first see the mighty hosts gathered 
along the mountain slope, all ready to vanquish the enemies of God ; so, in 
the early hours of bereavement, one may not have that joyous vision of the 
spiritual, or that perfect resignation to the Father's will, which will surely 
come to the soul through its patient waiting. Fainting heart, look upward 
amid thy tears ! Thy faith will speedily discern the unchangeableness of 
thy Father's love, piercing even the thickest clouds of sorrow. 

Closet Promise. — Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there 
is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. — Psalm cxxx. 7. 



We hope in Thee, O God ! 

The day wears on to night. 
Thick shadows lie across our world, 

In Thee alone is light. 

We hope in Thee, O God ! 

The fading-time is here. 
But Thou abidest strong and true 

Though all things disappear. 

We hope in Thee, O God ! 
Our joys go one by one, 



But lonely hearts can rest in Thee 
When all besides is gone. 

We hope in Thee, O God ! 

Hope fails us otherwhere ; 
But since Thou art in all that is, 

Peace takes the hand of care. 

We hope in Thee, O God ! 

In whom none hope in vain ; 
We cling to Thee in love and trust. 

And joy succeeds to pain. 

— Marianne Fai'7iiiii;ham. 



FIFTEENTH WEEK. 



199 



SATURDAY. 

Pit, Rock and Song. — Psalm xl. 



1 I waited patiently for the Lord ; and he 
inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 

2 He brought me up also out of a horriljle 
pit, out of the miiy clay, and set my feet upon a 
rock, and established my goings. 

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, 
even praise unto our God : many shall see it, 
and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. 

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the Loun 
his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such 
as turn aside to lies. 

5 Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful 
works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts 
■which a7-e to us-ward : they cannot be reckoned 
up in order unto thee : if I would declare and 
speak of them, they are more than can be num- 
bered. 

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire ; 
mine ears hast thou opened : burnt offering and 
sin offering hast thou not required. 

7 Then said L Lo, I come : in the volume of 
the book it is written of me. 

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God : yea, 
thy law is within my heart. 

9 I have preached righteousness in the great 
congregation : lo, I have not refrained my lips, 
O Lord, thou knowest. 



10 I have not hid thy righteousness within 
my heart ; I have declared thy faithfulness and 
thy salvation : I have not concealed thy loving 
kindness and thy truth from the great congre- 
gation. 

11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies 
from me, O Lord : let thy lovingkindness and 
thy truth continually preserve me. 

12 For innumerable evils have compassed 
me about : mine iniquities have taken hold upon 
me, so that I am not able to look up; they are 
more than the hairs of mine head : therefore 
my heart faileth me. 

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O 
Lord, make haste to help me. 

14 Let them be ashamed and confounded to- 
gether that seek after my soul to destroy it; let 
them be driven backward and put to shame that 
wish me evil. 

15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their 
shame that say unto me, Aha, aha. 

16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be 
glad in thee : let such as love thy salvation say 
continually, The Lord be magnified. 

17 But I avi poor and needy; yet the Lord 
thinkelh upon me : thou art my help and my 
deliverer ; make no tarrying, O my God. 



In this Psalm David speaks as the anointed servant of the Lord. Some 
of his words apply in a peculiar sense to himself; they are suitable to some 
occasion after his repentance. The 6th, 7th and 8th verses contain a re- 
markable prophecy of the incarnation and sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ. 
The apostle in Heb. x. 5-9, puts all conjecture out of court, and confines 
the meaning to Him who came into the world to do the Father's will. 

In verses 1-3, we have, "1st. Before Conversion. In the pit, dark, miry, 
helples.s. I waited — I cried. I had nothing but need, wretchedness, and a 
cry. God asks no more — poverty, purpose and prayer — these recommend 
me to His mercy. 2d. In Conversion. ' He inclined,' — was listening for 
my cry. ' He heard me.' ' He brought me up ' from darkness to light. 
The relief was radical — a complete answer to my cr\^ and the complement 

of my need 3d. After Conversion. A rock experience. He did it. 

Out from miry uncertainty to rock-assurance. He established my goings. 
My heart is all aglow with joy. His Spirit has begun the new life within me, 
and given me occasion for new praises — a new song, not the silence of 
policy or fear." — !)^o/i/i Parker. 

Closet Promise. — We joy in God through d^]r Lord Jesus Christ. — 
Rom. v, II. 



200 



FIFTEENTH WEEK. 



'Joy supreme, untold by mortals, 

Joy unspeakable, divine ! 
Him to know my perfect Saviour; 



In His righteousness to shine ; 

Here to have His blessed mind, 

Perfect rest in Him to find." 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — O taste and see that the Lord is good. — Psalm 
xxxiv. 8. 

Weekly Proverb. — Make haste slowly. — Poor Richard. 



T>k.lWi BIBLE READING.— ALL ABOUT HANDS. 

Sjinday. — Disobedient Hands. — Gen iii. 1-24. 

Monday. — Jeroboam's Idol-making Hands. — i Kings xii. 25-33; xiii. 
I- 10. 

Tuesday. — Sabbath-breaking Hands. — Neh. xiii. 15-22. 

Wednesday. — Herod's Murderous Hands. — Matt. ii. I-23. 

Thursday. — Paul's Persecuting Hands. — Acts xxvi. 1-32. 

Friday. — Clean Hands. — Psalm xxiv. i-io. 

Saturday. — Jesus' Hands. — Matt. viii. 3 ; Mark viii. 22-26; John xx. 19- 
31 ; Luke xxiv. 50. 

HAWKS OR DOVES? 



If words 

Were birds. 
And swiftly flew 

From tips 

Of lips 
Owned, dear, by you ; 

Would they. 

To-day, 
Be hawks and crows ? 

Or blue. 

And true. 
And sweet ? Who knows ? 



Let's play 

To-day 
We choose the best ; 

Birds blue 

And true. 
With dove-like breast ! 

'Tis queer. 

My dear. 
We never knew 

That words. 

Like birds. 
Had wings and flew ! — Selected. 



As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. — Gal. 
vi. ID. 

In our last talk I told you about helping the poor. But we must not stop 
with that; we must "do good unto all men." One way of doing good is. 
to keep others from doing wrong. Emma Gray, on her way to school, 
passed a little boy whose hand was through the railings of a gentleman's 
front yard, trying to pick a flower. " O little boy ! " said Emma, kindly. 
"Are you not taking that without leave ? " " Nobody sees me," said the 
boy. " Somebody sees you from the blue sky," answ«red Emma. " God 
says we must not take what does not belong to us without leave, and you 
will grieve Him if you do so." " Shall I ? " said he ; " then I won't." He 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 203 

drew back his hand and went away. You see, Emma did a good tiling that 
day. There was a father once who was very profane. His Httle girl always 
cried and shunned him when he came about. One day her mother asked 
her the reason, and she said, "/ heard papa swear." What a rebuke that 
was to her father ! And it caused him to resolve that she should never hear 
" papa swear " again. So you see, children, one way to do good is to pre- 
vent others from doing wrong. 



RETURN HOME AFTER THE FIRST VOYAGE. 

This is a picture of a young sailor who has just gotten home from his first 
voyage. He is seated at the table, in the midst of his family, telling of the 
adventures of his journey, which are still fresh in his memory. Just notice 
how interested all are in what he is saying. I judge it must be something 
very funny, for they seem to be laughing very heartily. No doubt he has 
brought with him many nice things which he has collected here and there. 
One little child, seated in the left corner of the picture, has a shell ; she is 
listening to the strange sounds in it, which are just like the murmur of the 
sea. 

Have you ever taken a long journey away from home ? Do you remem- 
ber how nice it was to get back home again ? How glad all were to see 
you — even the girl in the kitchen ; even the cat, and the bird ; everybody 
and everything. And how fresh and new everything about home seemed to 
you ! Why even your old doll or worn-out riding-horse were like new ones 
to you, now that you were glad to play with them again. 

Then, have you ever had your papa or mamma go away and stay a long 
while ? How you longed for the day when they would return ! You could 
hardly wait. You were expecting nice presents, and candies and lots of 
other things ; but best of all, you did so want to see your parents once more. 
You did not know how much you loved them until you missed them from 
the home. 

Dear children, we cannot love our homes too dearly. We should do all 
we can to make them happy places. Samuel Woodworth wrote : 

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood. 

When fond recollection recalls them to view : — 
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wildwood, 

And every lov'd spot which my infancy knew. 



SIXTEENTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. — 
Prov. xvi. 8. 



Who is the honest man ? 
He that doth still and strongly good pursue, 
To God, his neighbor and himself most true, 

Whom neither force nor fawning can 
Unpin, or wrench from giving all their due; 



Who never melts or thaws 
At close temptations; when the day is done, 
His goodness sets not, but in dark can run ; 

The sun to others writeth laws, 
And is their virtue : Virtue is his sun. 

— George Herbert. 



Follow thou righteousness : the rest shall follow thee. — Thomas Adams. 

The Holy Ghost must shine upon your graces or you will not be able to 
see them, and your good works must shine upon your faith or your neigh- 
bors will not be able to see it. — De Sales. 

Do right and, although your neighbors may scorn and avoid you to-day, 
in the end you will find the whole world, nature, and God, on your side. 
Truth is the central sun of the universe. Be truth yourself. — Sel. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Bethesda. — John v. 1-24. 



1 After this there was a feast of the Jews ; 
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep 
vinrket a pool, which is called in the Hebrew 
tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 

3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent 
folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the 
moving of the water. 

4 For an angel went down at a certain sea- 
son into the pool and troubled the water : who- 
soever then first after the troubling of the water 
stepped in was made whole of whatsoever dis- 
ease be had. 

5 And a certain man was there, which had 
an infirmity thirty and eight years. 

6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he 
had been now a long time ?'« that case, he saith 
unto him. Wilt thou be made whole? 

7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I 
have no man, when the water is troubled, to 
put me into the pool : but while I am coming, 
another steppeth down before me. 

8 Jesus saith unto him. Rise, take up thy bed, 
and walk. 

9 And immediately the man was made whole, 
and took up his bed, and walked: and on the 
same day vras the sabbath. 

(204) 



10 \ The Jews therefore said unto him that 
was cured. It is the sabbath day : it is not law- 
ful for thee to carry thy bed. 

11 He answered tliem. He that made me 
whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy 
bed, and walk. 

12 Then asked they him, What man is that 
which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and 
walk ? 

13 And he that was healed wist not who it 
was : for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a 
multitude being in thai place. 

14 Afterward Je^us findeth him in the tem- 
ple, and said unto him. Behold, thou art made 
whole : sin no more, lest a worse thing come 
unto thee. 

15 Tlie man departed, and told the Jews that 
it was Jesus, vv'hich had made him whole. 

16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Je- 
sus, and sought to slay him, because he had 
done these things on the sabbath day. 

17 But Jesus answered them. My Father 
Vi'orkelh hitherto, and I work. 

1 8 Therefore the Jews sought the more to 
kill him, because he not only had broken the 
sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, 
making himself equal with God. 



SUNDAY. 205 

11} ! hen answered Jesus ami '■.'..d unin (hem, ; 22 For the Father judgeth no man, but lialli 

Verily, verily, I >ay iiiiio you. The S<ni can do | committed all judgment unto the Son : 
rn.thiugof liiniself, bui what he 'ieelh the Father 23 Tliat all tncn should honour the Son, even 

do-; for what things soever he doeih, these also | as they honour the Father. He that honourcth 

doeth the Son likewise. j not the Son honoureth not the Father which 

20 For the K.ilher loveth the Son, and shew- , hath sent him. 

eth him all things that himself doeth: and he I 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He tlint 

will shew liim greater works than these, that ye 1 heareth my word, and believeth on him that 

may marvel. ; sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall n^t 

21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and j come into condemnation; but is ])assed from 
quickentth ///('w / even so the Son quickeneth death unto life. 

w-hom he will. I 

The pool of Bethcsda, no doubt, wa.s intended as a typical representation 
of the fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. In the blood of Jesus a sovereign 
efficacy is found for all who are washed in it. He cures the guilt of sin, the 
dominion of sin, and the sting of sin. We do not have to go down into 
some low valley to find the Gospel Bethesda ; it is at our very door. We 
do not need to wait for some angel to come and stir its waters ; the blessed 
Spirit is promised most simply and unconditionally " to them that ask Him." 
TJiis promise says nothing even about desiring or thirsting ; it premises ab- 
solutely nothing ; but comes to the lowest depths of sin-paralyzed will — it 
is only and simply, "'AskT 

''Is passed from death unto life" (verse 24). Not "is passing," but "is 
passed." 

" From death — cold, dark, hopeless, useless, loveless ; the death in tres- 
passes and sins; the death that lives (strange paradox) forever in the lake of 
fire — unto life with its ever-increasing abundance; life crowned with light 
and love; life upon which only a shadow of death can ever pass, and that 
only the shadow of the portal of eternal glor\' ; life in Jesus, hfe for Jesus, 
life with Jesus." — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — Wherefore He is able also to save them to the utter- 
most that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession 
for them. — Heb. vii. 25. 

" God never wastes His power. What He is able to do, He is willing to 
do — desires to do. His abijity furnishes an unlimited, exhaustless store- 
house. Christ's intercession gives every one the key. Alas that there 
should be so many who either s'tarve in rags or perish by the wayside ! " 



206 SIXTEENTH WEEK 

MONDAY. - 

A Hymn of Prayer. — Psalm xj 



1 The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble ; 
the name of the God of Jacob defend thee ; 

2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and 
strengthen thee out of Zion ; 

3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept 
thy burnt sacrifice ; Selah. 

4 Grant thee according to ihine own heart, 
and fulfil all thy counsel. 

5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in 
the name of our God we will set up our ban- 
ners : the Lord fulfil all thy petitions. 



6 Now know I that the Lord saveth his 
anointed ; he will hear him from his holy 
heaven with the saving strength of his right 
hand. 

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses : 
but we will remember the name of the Lord 
our God. 

8 They are brought down and fallen : but 
we are risen, and stand upright. 

9 Save, Lord : let the king hear us when 
we call. 



In this Psalm a happy people plead for a beloved sovereign, and with lov- 
ing hearts cry to Jehovah, " God save the King." 

" It needs but a moment's reflection to perceive that this hymn of prayer 
is prophetical of our Lord Jesus, and is the cry of the ancient church on 
behalf of her Lord, as she sees Him in vision enduring a great fight of af- 
flictions on her behalf. The militant people of God, with the great Captain 
of salvation at their head, may still in earnest plead that the pleasure of the 
Lord may prosper in His hand." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" The scene presented in this place to the eye of faith is deeply affect- 
ing. Here is the Messiah pouring out His heart in prayer in the day of His 
trouble; His spouse overhears His agonizing groans; she is moved with the 
tenderest sympathy towards Him; she mingles her prayers with His; she 
entreats that He may be supported and defended." — Hamilton Verschoyle. 

And so still to-day we may pray for Him. We can pray for Him in His 
members. And thus is fulfilled what is written in Psalm Ixxii. 15. 

"A sweeter wish, or a more consolatory prayer for a child of sorrow was 
never uttered by man, 'The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble ; the name of 
the God of jfacob defend thee.' And who is there of the sons of men to 
whom a 'day of trouble ' does not come, whose path is not darkened at 
times, or with whom is it unclouded sunshine from the cradle to the grave? 
' Few plants,' says old Jacomb, ' have both the morning and the evening 
sun ; ' and one far older than he said, ' Man is born to trouble.' A 'day of 
trouble' then, is the heritage of every child of Adam. How sweet, as I 
Iiave said, how sweet the wish, 'The Lord hear thee in the day of troiiblel 
It is the prayer of another in behalf of some troubled one, and yet it im- 
plies that the troubled one himself had also prayed, 'Tlie Lord hear thee' — 
hear and answer thine own prayer ! " — Barton Bouchicr. 

Closet Promise. — Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye .shall 
ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. — John xvi. 23. 



MONDAY. 



207 



While I tread life's weary path, 
Give me faith, O Lord, to see 
In the trials that surround me 

Naught but Thee. 

Give me strength, O Lord, to lighten 
The burdens of the weak around, 
And to tell the peace to others 
I have found. 

WTien I reach the valley dark, 
Give me eyes, O Lord, to see 



In that awful, awful darkness 

Round me — Thee. 

When I touch the gloomy river. 
Hold me that I cannot sink ; 
Hold me, Lord, that I may see Thee 
On the brink. 

Take me to the " many mansions " 
That Thou hast prepared for me ; 
There I would abide forever, 

Lord, with Thee ! 

—Selected. 



TUESDAY. 

The Royal Triumphal Ode. — Psalm xxi. 



1 The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord ; 
and in thy salvation how greatly shall he re- 
joice! 

2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire, 
and hast not withholden the request of his lips. 
Selah. 

3 For thou preventest him with the blessings 
of goodness : thou settest a crown of pure gold 
on his head. 

4 He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it 
him, even length of days for ever and ever. 

5 His glory is great in thy salvation : hon- 
our and majesty hast thou laid upon him. 

6 For thou hast made him most blessed for 
ever : thou hast made him exceeding glad with 
thy countenance. 

7 For the king trusteth in the Lord, and 
through the mercy of the Most High he shall 
not be moved. 



8 Thine hand shalt find out all thine en- 
emies : thy right hand shall find out those that 
hate thee. 

9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in 
the time of thine anger : the Lord shall swal- 
low them up in his wrath, and the fire shall 
devour them. 

10 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the 
earth, and their seed from among the children 
of men. 

1 1 For they intended evil against thee : they 
imagined a mischievous device, which they are 
not able \.o perform. 

12 Therefore shalt thou make them turn their 
back, rvhen thou shalt make ready thiize arrows 
upon thy strings against the face of them. 

13 Be thou exalted. Lord, in thine own 
strength : so will we sing and praise thy power. 



Psalm Twenty anticipates what this regards as reahzed. 

" The last Psalm was a litany before the king went forth to battle. This 
is apparently a Te Deum on his return." — J. J. Stewart Pei'owne. 

" If we pray to-day for a benefit and receive it, we must, ere the sun goes 
down, praise God for that mercy, or we deserve to be denied the next time." 
— C. H. Sp7irgeo?i. 

" The king shall joy in thy strength, Lord ; and in thy salvation how 
greatly shall he rejoice ! " " Herein let every subject of King Jesus imitate 
the King; let us lean upon Jehovah's strength, let us joy in it by unstag- 
gering faith, let us exult in it in our thankful songs. Jesus not only has thus 
rejoiced, but He shall do so as He sees the power of divine grace bringing 
out from their sinful hiding-places the purchase of His soul's travail ; we also 
shall rejoice more and more as we learn by experience more and more fully 
the strength of the arm of our covenant God. Our weakness unstrings our 
harps, but His strength tunes them anew. If we cannot sing a note in 



208 



SIXTEENTH WEEK. 



honor of our own strength, we can at any rate rejoice in our omnipotent 
God." — C. H. Sp2irgcon. 

Closet Promise. — If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. — 2 Tim. 
ii. 12. 



'Tis done, the world's long night is o'er, 
At last is reached the long'd-for shore ; 

Life's transient tale is told : 
The Crystal Cily bursts on sight, 
With gates of pearl and sapphire bright, 

And streets of purest gold ! 

One theme each sainted bosom fires. 
The thunder of the myriad choirs 

The anthem peals prolong ; 
No wearied frame, no languid eye, 
Suspend the swelling minstrelsy 

Of the exultant throng. 



See ! more than conquerors they stand, 
Clothed in white robes ; in every hand 

Waves the the triumphal palm; 
Down at His feet each crown is flung. 
And onward rolls from tongue to tongue, 

" Salvation to the Lamb ! 

" Blessing and glory, might and power, 
Ascribe to Him for evermore, 

Ye countless hosts of heaven ; 
Unto the Lamb who once was slain, 
Who through eternal years shall reign. 

Immortal praise be given ! " 

—Dr. J. R. Macduff. 



WEDNESDAY. 

A Succoring Christ. — Heb. ii. 



1 Therefore we ought to give the more ear- 
nest heed to the things which we have heard, 
lest at any time we should let them slip. 

2 For if the word spoken by angels was 
steadfast, and every transgression and disobedi- 
ence received a just recompense of reward; 

3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great 
salvation ; which at the first began to be spoken 
by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by 
them that heard him ; 

4 God also bearing theni witness, both with 
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, 
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his 
own will ? 

5 For unto the angels hath he not put in sub- 
jection the world to come, whereof we speak. 

6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, 
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or 
the son of man, that thou visitest him ? 

7 Thou madest him a little lower than the 
angels ; thou crownedst him vi'ith glory and 
honour, and didst set him over the works of thy 
hands : 

8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under 
his feet. For in that he put all in subjection 
under him, he left nothing that is not put under 
him. But now we see not yet all things put un- 
der him. 

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little 
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, 
crowned with glory and honour; that he by the 
grace of God should taste death for every man. 



10 For it became him, for whom are all 

things, and by whom are all things, in bringing 
many sons unto glory, lo make the captain of 
their salvation perfect through sufferings. 

1 1 For both he that sanctifieth and they who 
are sanctified are all of one : for which cause 
he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 

12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my 
brethren : in the midst of the church will I sing 
praise unto thee. 

13 And again, I will put my trust in him. 
And again. Behold, I and the children which 
God hath given me. 

14 Forasmuch then as the children are par- 
takers of flesh and blood, he also himself like- 
wise took part of the same ; that through death 
he might destroy him that had the power of 
death, that is, the devil; 

15 And deliver them, who through fear of 
death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 

16 For verily he took not on him the nature 
of angels ; but he took on him the seed of 
Abraham. 

17 Wherefore in all things it behooved him 
to be made like unto his brethren, that he miijiit 
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things 
pertaijiiug to God, to make reconciliation for 
the sins of the people. 

18 For in that he himself hath suffered being 
tempted, he is able to succour them that are 
tempted. 



WEDNESDAY. 



209 



What it was " to be tempted," our Saviour knew of old, by the sure but 
sharp convictions of His own experience ; and therefore treats such as are 
tempted with all the sympathizing tenderness that fellowship in suffering can 
produce in a mind infinitely merciful of itself 

" This is no small support that Christ succours the tempted. The mother 
succours the child most when it is sick ; she sits by its bedside, brings it 
cordials ; so, when a soul is most assaulted, it shall be most assisted." — 
Watso/i. 

"Nothing is so exquisite in you, nothing so multitudinous, nothing so 
venomous and painful in the way of moral temptations, that it has not had 
some part in the experience of Christ, so that it is interpreted to him per- 
fectly. And every sigh, every groan, every aspiration, every thought, that 
will not even look up, but that, looking down, despairs — God knows them 
all, and knows them quick, for they bound, as it were, against his heart, 
bringing up suggestions of trials experienced in his own person." — H. W. 
Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers 
temptations ; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 
— James i. 2-3. 

"Joy! Joy to be harassed by a constant derangement of your plans? Joy 
to be tantalized by those who would anger you, that they might glory in 
your fall ? Joy to be led into doubt as to your own duty, into darkness 
that enshrouds all the pathway before you? Yes, joy ! Because thus you 
may suffer with the Master. You are driven to the great Burden-bearer for 
help. Rejoice for every thing that reveals to you your own incompleteness 
and God's great fulness." 

THURSDAY. 

The Christian as a Citizen. — Titus iii. i-o. 



1 Put them in mind to be subject to princi- 
palities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be 
ready to every good work. 

2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, 
Imt gentle, shewing all meekness unto all 
men. 

3 For we ourselves also were sometime iool- 
ish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts 
and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hate- 
ful, ««(/ hating one another. 

4 But after that the kindness and love of God 
our Saviour toward man appeared, 

5 Not by works of righteousness which we 
have done, but according to his mercy he saved 



us, by the washing of regeneration, and renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost; 

6 V^^hich he shed on us abundantly through 
Jesus Christ our Saviour ; 

7 That being justified by his grace, we should 
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal 
life. 

8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I 
will that thou affirm constantly, that they which 
have believed in God might be careful to main- 
tain good works. These things are good and 
profitable unto men. 

9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, 
and contentions, and strivings about the law ; 
for they are unprofitable and vain. 



210 



SIXTEENTH WEEK. 



A man's religion consists in something else than in duty toward God. It 
must control the whole circle of his relationships, and make him a better 
citizen as well as a better man. Indeed, it cannot do the one without doing 
the other. 

In our lesson we see What the Christian citizen sliould do (vers. 1,2); 
What he was (vers. 3-7) ; What he shoidd maintain (verse 8) ; What he should 
avoid (verse 9). 

The best citizens are Christian men. They are so, for the reason that, 
having learned to obey the law of God, they are willing to obey the laws 
of men, so far as they do not conflict with God's higher law. Next to the 
government of God, the government of man, under which we live, demands 
our prompt and willing obedience. 

" Ready for every good work." That should be the reputation of every 
Christian. The " good work " here had in view was any work such as the 
government might call upon one to do. In<'elation to every call other than 
is forbidden by the law of his God, a Christian specially should be " ready " 
— prompt and willing. He should set to all others an example of good 
citizenship. 



Closet Promise.— Surely I know that 
fear God. — Eccles. viii. 12. 



it shall be well with them that 



God holds the key of all unknown, 

And I am glad; 
If other hands should hold the key, 
Or if He trusted it to me, 

I might be sad. 

What if to-morrow's cares were here 

Without its rest? 
I had rather He unlock the day, 
And as the hours swing open say, 

" My will is best." 

The very dimness of my sight 

Makes me secure, 
For groping in my misty way, 



I feel His hand — I hear Him say, 
" My help is sure." 

I cannot read His future plan. 

But this I know ; 
I have the smiling of His face, 
And all the refuge of His grace, 

While here below. 

Enough ; this covers all my want, 

And so I rest ; 
For what I cannot, He can see, 
And in His care I sure shall be 

Forever blest. 

— J?ev. John Parker. 



FRIDAY. 

Fleeing from Duty. — Jonah i. and ii. 



1 Now the word of the Lord came imto Jo- 
nah the son of .^niittai, saying, 

2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and 
cry against it; for their wickedness is come up 
before me. 

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish 
from the presence of the Lord, and went down 
to Joppa ; and he found a ship going to Tarshish : 
so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into 



it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the pres- 
ence of the Lord. 

4 \ But the Lord sent out a great wind into 
the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the 
sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried 
every man unto his god, and cast forth the 
wares that 7uere in the ship into the sea, to 
lighten // of them. But Jon.nh was gone down 



FRIDAY. 



211 



into the sides of the ship ; and he lay, and was 
fast asleep. 

6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said 
unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper ? arise, 
call upon thy God, if so be that God will think 
upon us, that we perish not. 

7 And ihey said every one to his fellow, 
Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know 
for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they 
cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 

8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray 
thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us ; 
What is thine occupation ? and whence cometh 
thou ? what is thy country ? and of what people 
ari thou ? 

9 And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew ; 
and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which 
hath made the sea and the dry /ant^. 

10 Then were the men exceedingly afiaid, 
and said unto him. Why hast thou done this? 
For the men knew that he fled frr)m the presence 
of the Lord, because he had told them. 

11 ^ Then said they unto him, What shall 
we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto 
us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 

12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and 
cast me forth into the sea ; so shall the sea be 
calm unto you : for I know that for my sake 
this great tempest is upon you. 

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring 
if to the land; but they could not; for the sea 
wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 

14 Wherefore they cried unio the LORD, and 
said. We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech 
thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and 
lay not upon us innocent blood ; for thou, O 
Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. 

15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth 



into the sea : and the sea ceased from her rag- 
ing. 

16 Then the men feared the Lord exceed- 
ingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, 
and made vows. 

17 ^ Now the Lord had prepared a great 
fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in 
the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 

1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God 
out of the fish's belly. 

2 And said, I cried by reason of mine afflic- 
tion unto the Lord, and he heard me ; out of 
the belly of hell cried I, atid thou heardest my 
voice. 

3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in 
the midst of the seas ; and the floods compassed 
me about : all thy billows and thy waves passed 
over me. 

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; 
yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 

5 The waters compassed me about, even to 
the soul : the depth closed me round about, the 
weeds were wrapped about my head. 

6 I went down to the bottoms of the moun- 
tains ; the earth with her bars was shout me for 
ever : yet hast thou brought up my life from 
corruption, O Lord my God. 

7 When my soul fainted within me I remem- 
bered the Lord : and my prayer came in unto 
thee, into thine holy temple. 

8 They that observe lying vanities forsake 
their own mercy. 

9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice 
of thanksgiving ; I will pay i/mt that I have 
vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. 

10 ^ And the Lord spake unto the fish, and 
it vomited out Jonah upon the dry /and. 



It is the most dangerous thing in the world to neglect or refuse to do a 
duty. Jonah acted as men often do who dislike God's commands. He 
set about removing himself as far as possible from being under the influence 
of God, and from the place where he coi//d fulfil those commands. God 
bade him go to Nineveh, which lay Northeast from his home ; and he in- 
stantly set himself to flee to the then furthermost West. 

" So men, when God secretly calls them to prayer, go and immerse them- 
selves in business; when, in solitude, He says to their souls something 
which they like not, they escape His voice in a throng. If He calls them 
to make sacrifices for His poor, they order themselves a new dress or some 
fresh sumptuousness or self-indulgence; or, contrariwise, if He calls them 
not to do a thing, they do it at once, to make an end of their struggles and 
their obedience ; to put obedience out of their power ; to enter themselves 
on a course of disobedience. Jonah, then, in this part of his history, is the 
image of those who, when God calls them, disobey His call, and how He 



212 



SIXTEKNTH WKEK. 



deals with them, when He does not abandon them. He lets them have 
their way for a time, encompasses them with diflficulties, so that they shall 
* flee back from God displeased to God appeased.' " — E. B. Pusey, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — Happy is the man whom God correcteth : therefore 
despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for He maketh sore, and 
bindeth up: He woundeth, and His hands make whole. — Job v. 17-18. 

It is good for a man to be checked, crossed, disappointed, made to feel 
his own ignorance, weakness, folly ; made to feel his need of God ; to feel 
that, in spite of all his cunning and self-confidence, he is no better off in 
this world than in a dark forest, unless he has a Father in heaven who loves 
him with an eternal love, and a Holy Spirit in heaven who will give him a 
right judgment in all things, and a Saviour in heaven who can be touched 
with the feeling of his infirmities. — Charles Kingsley. 

SATURDAY. 

Sinners in the Dust.— Jonah iii. and iv. 



1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jo- 
nah the second time, saying, 

2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and 
preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, 
according to the word of the LORD. Now 
Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three 
days' journey. 

4 And Jonah hegan to enter into the city a 
day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty 
days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, 
and proclained a fast, and put on sackcloth, 
from the greatest of them even to the least of 
them. 

6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, 
and he arose from his throne, and he laid his 
robe from him, and covered hitn with sackcloth, 
and sat in ashes. 

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and 
pul)lished through Nineveh by the decree of the 
king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man 
nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing ; let 
them not feed, nor drink water: 

8 But let man and beast be covered with sack- 
cloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let 
them turn every one from his evil way, and 
from the violence that is in their hands. 

9 Who can tell z/God will turn and repent, 
and turn away from his fierce anger, that we 
perish not ? 

10 \ And God saw their works, that thev 
turned from their evil way; and God rep?nlcd 



of the evil, that he had said that he would do 
unto them ; and he did // not. 



1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and 
he was very angry. 

2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I 
pray thee, O LoRd, was not this my saying when 
I was yet in my country ? Therefore I fled be- 
fore unto Tarshish : for I knew that thou att a 
gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and 
of great kindness, and repentest thee of the 
evil. 

3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech 
thee, my life from me ; for it is better for me to 
die than to live. 

4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be 
angry? 

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on 
the east side of the city, and there made him a 
booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he 
might see what would become of the city. 

6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd and 
made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be 
a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his 
grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the 
gourd. 

7 But God prepared a worm when the morn- 
ing rose the next day, and it smote the gourd 
that it withered. 

8 And it came to pa.ss, when the sun did 
arise, that God prepared a vehtment east wind ; 



SATURDAY. 213 



bouied, neither made^t it grow ; which came up 
in a night, and perished in a night : 

II And should not I spare Nineveh, that 
great city, wherein are more than sixscore thou- 
sand persons that cannot discern between their 
right hand and their left hand ; and also mucii 
cattle ? 



and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that 
he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and 
said. It is better for me to die than to live. 

9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to 
be angry for the gourd ? And he said, I do 
well to be angry, even unto death. 

10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity 
on the gourd, for the which thou hast not la- 

We have here an illustration of the truth, that those who venture on 
Divine mercy will not be disappointed. This was not a repentance in word 
only, but in deed. 

" Many wish to repent, yet so as not to part with their luxuries or the 
vanity of their dress, like the Greek who said he would ' like to be a phi- 
losopher; yet in a few things, not altogether.' To whom we may answer, 
'Delicate food and costly dress agree not with penitence; and that is no 
great grief which never comes to light.' " — Selected. 

" It was a marvellous thing, that purple was outvied by sackcloth. Sack- 
cloth availed, what the purple robe availed not." "The king had conquered 
enemies by valor; he conquered God by humility. Wise king, who, for the 
saving of his people, owns himself a sinner rather than a king. He forgets 
that he is a king, fearing God, the King of all ; he remembereth not his own 
power, coming to own the power of the Godhead. Marvellous ! While he 
remembereth not that he is a king of men, he beginneth to be a king of 
righteousness. The prince, becoming religious, lost not his empire, but' 
changed it. Before, he held the princedom of military discipline ; now, he 
obtained the princedom in heavenly disciplines." — 5. Maximus. 

"He who limiteth fasting to the abstinence from food only, he it is who, 
above all, dishonoreth it. Fastest thou ? Show it me by its works. ' What 
works ? ' askest thou. If you see a poor man, have mercy ; if an enemy, be 
reconciled ; if a friend doing well, envy him not ; if a beautiful woman, pass 
on. Let not the mouth alone fast; let eyes, too, and hearing, and feet, and 
hands, and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, clean from 
rapine and avarice I Let the feet fast, holding back from going to unlawful 
sights ! Let the eyes fast, learning never to thrust themselves on beautiful 
objects, nor to look curiously on others' beaut)^ ; for the food of the eye is 
gazing. Let the ear, too, fast ; for the fast of the ears is not to hear detrac- 
tions and calumnies. Let the mouth, too, fast from foul words and re- 
proaches. For what boots it to abstain from birds and fish while we bite 
and devour our brethren ? The detracter preys on his brother's flesh." — 
E. B.Puscy,D.D. 

Closet Promise. — Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and 
plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee. — Psalm 
Ixxxvi. 5. 



214 SIXTEENTH WEEK. 

Lord, who art merciful as well as just, [ Accept my sacrifice and humble prayer 

Incline Thine ear to me, a child of dust ! j Four things which are not in Thy treasury 

Not what I would, O Lord, I offer Thee, - - - - . _ . _ . 
Alas! but what I can. 



Father Almighty, who hast made me man, 
And bade me look to heaven, for Thou art 
there, 



I lay before thee, Lord, with this petition; 
My nothingness, my wants. 
My sins, and my contrition. 

— Robert Southey. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he 
that believeth on Me shall never thirst. — John vi. 35. 

Weekly Proverb. — One To-day is worth two To-Morrows. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— ALL ABOUT FEET. 

Sunday. — Feet like Hind's Feet. — Psalm xviii. 1-50. 

Monday. — Feet Hurt with Fetters. — Psalm cv. 1-45. 

Tuesday. — Feet on a Rock. — Psalm xl. 1-17. 

Wednesday. — Feet Swift for Mischief. — Prov. vi. 1-19. 

T/mrsday. — Feet Stumbling on Dark Mountains. — Jer. xiii. 1-27. 

Friday. — Feet Running to do Evil. — Prov. i. 8-33. 

Saturday. — Feet that Bring Glad Tidings. — Rom. x. 1-2 1. 

FROM THE OLD GERMAN. 



How should the heart of a little child be? 
As pure as the lily that blossoms on the lea. 
As clear as the dews from the heavens that fall, 
As true as the mirror that hangs on the wall. 
As fresh as the fountain, as gay as the lark 



That trills out its song 'twixt the day and the 

dark. 
As glad as the angels when, soaring, they fly 
On the bright wings of love to their home in 

the sky. — E. ]]/. Traquaii-. 



To do good, and to communicate, forget not. — Heb. xiii. 16. 

I want to tell you another way of doing good. One Sunday the super- 
intendent of a Sunday-school said to his scholars, " Children, I want each 
of you to bring a new scholar to the school with you next Sunday." " I 
ca7t't get any new scholars," said several of the children to themselves. " Til 
try what I can do," was the whispered response of a few others. One of 
the latter class went home to his father and said, " Father, will you go to 
the Sunday-school with me?" " I can't read, my son," replied the father, 
with a look of shame. " Our teachers will teach you, dear father," answered 
the boy, with respect and feeling in his tones. " Well, I'll go," said the 
father. He went, learned to read, sought and found the Saviour, and at 
length became a Bible distributer. Years passed on, and that man had 
established /"£>;/;' hundred Sunday-Schools, into which tlnrty-five thousaj/d chil- 
dren were gathered ! Thus you see what trying did. That boy's efforts, by 
God's grace, saved his father; and his father, being saved, led tlnrty-fivc 
thousand Q\\\\Axt\\ to the Sundav-school ! 



SEVENTEENTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — For all the promises of God in Him are Yea, and in Him Amen, unto the 
glory of God by us. — 2 Cor. i. 20 



For He hath given us a changeless writing, 
Royal decrees that light and gladness briii: 



Signed with His name in glorious inditing, 
Sealed on our hearts with His own signet ring. 
— F. R. Havergal. 



I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity upon them. 
— Watts. 

The promises often lose their sweetness because we have been eating of 
the grapes of Sodom. Our taste is at fault. — Sel. 

People often err in trying to hasten the promises, confounding precepts 
with promises — breaking the precept to fulfil the promise. — Sel. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 
SUNDAY. 

No Tears. — Isa. xxv. 



1 O Lord, thou art my God ; I will exalt 
thee, I will praise thy name ; for thou hast done 
wonderful things; thy counsels of old are 
faithfulness and trulh. 

2 For thou hast made of a city a heap ; of a 
defenced city a ruin : a palace of strangers to 
be no city; it shall never be built. 

3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify 
thee, tl-e city of the terrible nations shall fear 
thee. 

4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, 
a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge 
from the stnrm, a shadow from the heat, when 
the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against 
the wall. 

5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of stran- 
gers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat 
with the shadow of a cloud : the branch of the 
terrible ones shall be brought low. 

6 And in this mountain shall the Lord of 
hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, 
a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full 
of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 

7 And he will destroy in this niouniain the 



face of the covering cast over all people, and 
the vail that is spread over all nations. 

8 He will swallow up death in victory ; and 
the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all 
faces ; and the rebuke of his people shall he 
take away from off all the earth : for the Lord 
hath spoken it. 

9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this 
is our God ; we have waited for him, and he 
will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited 
for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his sal- 
vation. 

10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the 
Lord rest, and Moab shall be trodden down 
under him, even as straw is trodden down for 
the dunghill. 

u And he shall spread forth his hands in 
the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spread- 
eth forth his hands to swim : and he shall 
bring down their pride together with the spoils 
of their hands. 

12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy 
walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring 
to the "round, even to the dust. 



In this chapter there occur almost the grandest words between the lids of 
the Bible. It is thus they run : "And God will swallow up death in victory. 
And the Lord God will wipe aw.iy tears from off all faces." Yes, one day 
the ministry of discipline will be ended. No longer will there be any John 

(215) 



216 



SEVENTEENTH WEEK. 



the Baptist crying in the wilderness, " Repent ye." No longer will the 
tears of sorrowful ones girdle the earth in never-ceasing witness of the 
shames, the griefs, the hopelessness, that have extorted them. The tears 
that have fallen in so many open graves ; the tears that have dropped slowly 
from some young mother's cheek upon the babe asleep upon her knees ; the 
tears that, all unbidden, blind us when we look upon the shattered remnants 
of our earlier hopes ; our tears of mortification, of penitence, and of despair 
— all these shall be wiped away forever. The ministry of discipline will be 
ended — the baptism of tears will be done. 

This passage is exquisitely beautiful. The poet Burns once said that he 
could never read it without being affected to tears. It may be added that 
nothing but the gospel will do this. No other religion can furnish such 
consolation, and no other religion is, therefore, adapted to man. 



Closet Promise. - 

— Rev. XX i. 4. 



-And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 



' We have no tears Thou wilt not dry ; 

We have no- wounds Thou wilt not heal : 
No sorrows pierce our human hearts 

That Thou, dear Saviour, dost not feel ! 



' Thy pity like the dew distils. 

And Thy compassion like the light 

Our every morning overfills, 

And crowns with stars our every night.' 



MONDAY. 

A Good Name.- — Eccles. vii. 1-14. 



1 A good name is better than precious oint- 
ment; and the day of death than the day of 
one's birth. 

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning 
than to go to the house of feasting ; for that is 
the end of all men ; and the living will lay ?Vto 
his heart. 

3 Sorrow is better than laughter : for by the 
sadness of the countenance the heart is made 
better. 

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of 
mourning ; but the heart of fools is in the house 
of mirth. 

5 // is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, 
than for a man ^o hear the song of fools : 

6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, 
so is the laughter of the fool. This also is 
vanity. 

7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad ; 
and a gift destroyeth the heart. 

8 Better is the end of a thing than the begin- 



ning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better 
than the proud in spirit. 

9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry : for 
anger resleth in the bosom of fools. 

10 Say not thou, What is t/ie cause that the 
former days were better than these ? for thou 
dost not inquire wisely concerning this. 

1 1 \ Wisdom is good with an inheritance : 
and by it there is profit to them that see the 
sun. 

12 For wisdom is a defence, a«a' money is a 
defence : but the excellency of knowledge is, 
that wisdom giveth life to them that have it. 

13 Consider the work of God: for who can 
make that straight, which he hath made 
crooked ? 

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in 
the day of adversity consider : God also hath 
set the one over against the other, to the end 
that man should find nothing after him. 



"The very sweetness of a precious ointment — the very exquisiteness and 
delicac}' of its odor — exposes it to be the more easily injured. It may he 
.so fainted by the corruption of even a dead fly as to have it^ pcifiimes 



MOND AY. 



217 



spoiled. By so seemingly trifling a cause may all the cost and skill be- 
stowed on it by the apothecary be rendered of no avail. And how true a 
picture does this illustration exhibit of the fatal injury which a little folly is 
sure to inflict upon the good name of the man who is held in reputation for 
wisdom and honor. Indiscretions that would never be noticed in men of 
inferior character are ruinous to him. Nor is it difficult to understand how 
this result should arise. On a soiled garment even a fresh stain makes no 
very conspicuous mark, but a spot catches the eye at once on a snow-white 
robe." — Biichanan. 

Closet Promise. — The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He 
addeth no sorrow with it. — Prov. x. 22. 



Let the world pnss by unknown, 
Care is dead and sorrow flown ; 
O'er His garment's outer fold 
I have all my burdens rolled : 
I will sleep, for God shall be 
Even in slumber blessing me. 



As a callovi' bird may rest 
Swinging softly in its nest, 
As a baby kept from harm 
In its mother's folding arm. 
So I rest secure with Thee ; 
Even in sleep Thou blessest me. 

— Rose Terry Cooke. 



TUESDAY. 

The Walk to Emmaus. — Luke xxiv. 13-35. 



13 ^And, behold, two of them went that 
same day to a village called Emmaus, which 
was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 

14 And they talked together of all these 
things which had happened. 

15 And it came to pass, that, while they 
communed together and reasoned, Jesus him- 
self drew near, and went with them. 

16 But their eyes were holden that they 
should not know him. 

17 And he said unto them, What manner of 
communications are these that ye have one to 
another, as ye walk, and are sad? 

18 And the one of them, whose name was 
Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only 
a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known 
the things which are.come to pass there in these 
days ? 

19 And he said unto them. What things? 
And they said unto him, Cimcerning Jesus of 
Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed 
and word before God and all the people : 

20 And how the chief priests and our rulers 
delivered him to be condemned to death, and 
have crucified him. 

21 But we tru'^ted that it had been he which 
should have retleemed Israel : and beside all 
this, to day is the third day since these things 
were done. 

22 Yea, and certain women also of our coni- 



I pany made us astonished, which were early at 
the sepulchre ; 

23 And when they found not his body, they 
came, saying, that they had also seen a vision 
of angels, which said that he was alive. 

24 And certain of them which were with us 
went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as 
the women had said: but him they saw not. 

25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow 
of heart to beUeve all that the prophets have 
spoken : 

26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these 
things, and to enter into his glory? 

27 And beginning at Moses and all the 
prophets, he expounded unto them in all the 
Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

28 And they drew nigh unto the village, 
whither they went : and he made as though he 
would have gone further. 

29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide 
with us; for it is toward evening, and the day 
is far spent. And he went in to tarry with 
them. 

30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with 
them, Jie took bread, and blessed it, and brake, 
and gave to them. 

31 And their eyes were opened, and they 
knew him ; and he vanished out of their sight. 

32 And they sail one to another, Did not 
our heart burn within us, while he talked with 



218 SEVENTEENTH WEEK 



us by the way, and while he opened to us the 
Scriptures ? 

33 And they rose up the same hour, and re- 
turned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven 
gathered together, and them that were with 
them, 



34 Sayuig, The Lord is risen indeed, and 
hath appeared to Simon. 

35 And they told what things -were done in 
the way, and how he was known of them in 
breaking of bread. 



" But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him." 

So, oftentimes, our eyes are holden that we should not know Him. Strange 
things happen to us, and we think not that His hand is upon them all.. All 
the instruction we get in the darkness is from Him; but we do not know 
that it is from him directly, and immediately, until the darkness is over. 

We, too, walk along the road to Emmaus, and the Divine Teacher ap- 
pears to us, as St. Mark puts it, " in another form." 

"God comes to His people in an undisclosed and unrecognized form in 
the hours of their despondency. Or, to put it in other words, that which 
seems to us to be a cloud and darkness is, after all, but the garment in the 
midst of which Christ is walking. All right occupations likewise, all duties, 
all daily fidelities, bring along with them a divine presence. We are never 
alone. We are never doing things that are merely secular, if we know how 
to make them Divine. The most menial callings, routine occupations, 
things not agreeable in themselves, but necessary, and things of duty, all of 
them have or may have with them a Christ." — H. IV. Beeclier. 

Oh, that wisdom were given us to know what the blessing of to-day is, 
and what the blessing of the hour is, that we may then see what it is, when, 
like Christ, it vanishes at the moment of its disclosure. 

Closet Promise. — Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, 
and will not tarry. — Heb. x. 37. 

" I cannot think but God must know | I cannot think but He will find 

About the thing I long for so ; Some way to help, some way to show 

I know He is so good, so kind, | Me to the thing I long for so." 

WEDNESDAY. 

" The Question and Answer." — Psalm xv. 



1 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? 
who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? 

2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh 
righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his 
heart. 

3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor 
doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a re- 
proach against his neighbour. 



4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; 
but he honnureth them that fear the Lord. He 
thitt sweareth to his ozvn hurt, and changeth 
not. 

5 He thnt pulteth not out his money to usury, 
nor taketh reward against the innocent. He 
that doeth these thivos shall never be moved. 



We have here a description of the man " who is a child at home in the 



WEDNESDAY. 



219 



Church of God on earth, and who will dwell in the house of the Lord for- 
ever above." The first verse asks the question ; the rest of the verses an- 
swer it. 

The citizen of Zion is here described. " i. What he must be. He must 
be upright in heart. A man himself bent double cannot walk uprightly. 
2. How he must act. Neither from impulse, ambition, gain, fear, or flattery. 
He must not be warped in any direction, but stand perpendicularly. 3. 
What he must expect. Snares, etc., to trip him. 4. Where he must walk. 
Path of duty, the only one in which he can walk uprightly, 5. Where he 
must look. Up, right-up, and then he will be up-right." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

" It is no account against thee that thou art a layman, or poor, or sick, or 
contemptible, or how vile soever thou art; if thou workest righteousness, 
thou shalt be saved. The only work that we must hope will be considered 
and accounted of, is the work of righteousness : all the other works that 
either urge or allure us on under a show of godliness, are a thing of naught." 
— Martin Liithcr. 

Closet Promise. — God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor 
of love. — Heb. vi. 10. 



One by one thy duties meet thee, 
Let thy whole strength go to each ; 

Let no future dreams elate thee, 

Learn thou first what these can teach. 



Every hour that fleets so slowly 
Has its task to do or bear : 

Luminous the crown and holy, 
If we set each gem with care.'' 



THURSDAY. 

The Glory of Christ.— Heb. 



1 God, who at sundry times and in divers 
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by 
the prophets, 

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by 
tiis Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all 
things, by whom also he made the worlds; 

3 Who being the brightness of his gloiy, 
and the express image of his person, and up- 
holding all things by the word of his ■ power, 
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat 
down on the right hand of the majesty on 
high; 

4 Being made so much better than the an- 
gels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more 
excellent name than they. 

5 For unto which of the angels said he at 
any time. Thou art my Son, this day have I be- 
gotten thee? And again, I will be to him a 
Father, and he shall be to me a Son ? 

6 And again, when he bringeth in the first- 
begotten into the world, he sailh, And let all 
the angels of God worship him. 

7 And of the angels he saith. Who maketh 



j his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of 

I fire. 

I 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O 

! God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of right- 

j eousnes-; is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 

j 9 Thou hnst hived righteousness, and hated 

j iniquity ; therefore God, even thy God, hath 

anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy 
j fellows. 
I 10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast 

laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heav- 
I ens are the works of thine hands. 
I II They shall perish, but thou remainest ; 
j and they all shall wax old as doth a garment ; 
! 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, 

and they shall be changed: but thou art the 

same, and thy years shall not fail. 

13 But to which of the angels said he at any 
time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine 
enemies thy footstool ? 

14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent 
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of 
salvation ? 



220 



SEVENTEENTH WEEK. 



We never fully appreciate the tender condescension of our King in becoming 
one flesh with His church, and placing her at His right hand, until we have 
fully rejoiced in His essential glory and deity. What a mercy for us that 
our Saviour is God, for who but a God could execute the work of salvation ? 
" What a glad thing it is that He reigns on a throne which will never pass 
away, for we need both sovereign grace and eternal love to secure our hap- 
piness. Could Jesus cease to reign we should cease to be blessed, and were 
He not God, and therefore eternal, this must be the case. No throne can 
endure forever, but that on which God Himself sitteth." "God is best 
known in Christ ; the sun is not seen but by the light of the sun." — Bridge. 

" In nature, we see God, as it were, like the sLin in a picture ; in the law, 
as the sun in a cloud ; in Christ, we see Him in His beams : He being ' The 
brightness of His glory, and the exact image of His person.' " — Charnock. 

"I have a passion," observed Count Zinzendorf in one of his discourses 
to the congregation at Hernhut, " and it is He — He only." 

Closet Promise. — Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for 
us. — Ephes. v. 2. 

Surely running-over love — that vast, large, boundless love of Christ — is 
the only thing I most fain would be in bonds with. He knoweth that 
I have but little but the love of that love ; and thus I shall be happy, sup- 
pose I never get another heaven, but only an eternal feasting of that love. 
But suppose my wishes were poor : He is not poor ; Christ, all the seasons 
of the year, is dropping sweetness. If I had vessels, I might fill them ; but 
my old, riven, and running-out dish, even when I am at the well, can bring 
little away. Nothing but glory will make tight and fast our leaking and 
rifty vessels. Alas ! I have spilled more of Christ's love, grace, faith, hu- 
mility, and godly sorrow, than I have brought with me. How little of a sea 
can a child carry in his hand 1 As little am I able to take away of my great 
sea, — my boundless and running-over Christ Jesus. — Rjithcrford. 



FRIDAY. 

A Blessed Persuasion. — 2 Tim. 



-14. 



1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will 
of God, according to the promise of life which 
is in Christ Jesus. 

2 To Timothy, wy/ dearly beloved son : Grace, 
mercy, and peace, from God the Father and 
Christ Jesus our Lord. 

3 I thank God, whom I serve from my fore- 
fathers with pure conscience, that without ceas- 
ing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers 
night and day; 



4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful 
of tiiy tears, that I may be filled vviih joy ; 

5 When 1 call to remembrance the unfeigned 
faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy 
grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and 
I am persuaded that in thee also. 

6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that 
thou stir up ihe gift of God, which is in thee by 
the putting on of my hands. 

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of 



FRIDAY. 



221 



1 1 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and 
an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 

12 For the which cause I also suffer these 
things : nevertheless I am not ashamed ; for I 
know whom I have believed, and am persuaded 
that he is able to keep that which I have com- 
mitted unto him against that day. 

13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which 
thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which 
is in Christ Jesus. 

14 That good thing which was committed 
unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwell- 
eth in us. 



fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound 
mind. 

8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testi- 
mony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner : but 
be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel 
according to the power of God ; 

9 Who hath saved us, and called jis with a 
holy calling, not according to our works, but 
according to his own purpose and grace, which 
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world 
began ; 

10 But is now made manifest by the appear- 
ing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abol- 
ished death, and hath brought life and immor- 
tality to light through the gospel : 

In verse 12 of this chapter we have Paul's experience. If there were 
nothing but ourselves, we might fear; but as long as we have the amplitude, 
the fidelity, the tenderness, and the love of Christ, we have that which is 
more than a match for all our sin. Doubt yourself as much as you will, 
but do not doubt Christ. When the Rev. Dr. Alexander lay dying, he was 
approached by a friend who asked him how he felt, and said to him, " Sup- 
pose you were now to go to the judgment seat, what would be your feel- 
ings?" He was then within twenty hours of his decease, and he knew he 
was dying. " What would be my feelings ? " said he in reply. " They 
would be these : first, I would prostrate myself in an unutterable sense of 
my nothingness and guilt ; but, secondly, I would look upon my Redeemer 
with an inexpressible assurance of faith and love. A passage of Scripture 
which explains my present feeling is this : 'I know tt'/^w;? I have believed, 
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto 
Him against that day.' Some persons read it, 'In whom I have believed,' 
but there is no preposition. Christ Himself was the direct object of the 
Apostle's faith. ' I know ivhom I have believed ; ' that is, I am acquainted 
with Him ; I know Him." And relying on that only, he died, as millions of 
others have done, and as God grant we may, in the holy triumphs of the 
Gospel. 

Closet Promise. — We which have believed do enter into re.st. — Heb. iv. ^. 



Rest, blessed rest, no rest like this. 
The earnest of celestial bliss. 
The pledge of rest above : 



The rest that Jesus only gives 
To him that in His presence lives. 
The life of holy love." 



SATURDAY. 

■The Song of Happy Service." — Psalm xxxvi. 



I The transgression of the wicked saith with- 
in my heart, that there is no fear of God before 
his eyes. 

- 13 



2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes 
until his iniquity be found to be hateful. 

3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and 



222 



SEVENTEENTH WEEK, 



deceit : he hath left off to be wise, and to do 
good. 

4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; lie 
setteth himself in a way that is not good ; he ab- 
horreth not evil. 

5 Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens ; 
and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. 

6 Thy righteousness is like the great moun- 
tains; thy judgments (?7V a great deep: O Lord, 
thou preserves! man and beast. 

7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O 
God ! therefore the children of men put their 
trust under the shadow of thy wings. 



8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the 
fatness of thy house ; and thou shalt make them 
drink of the river of thy pleasures. 

9 For with thee is the fountain of life : in thy 
light shall we see light. 

ID O continue thy lovingkindness unto them 
that know thee ; and thy righteousness to the 
upright in heart. 

1 1 Let not the foot of pride come against me, 
and let not the hand of the wicked remove me. 

12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen : 
they are cast down, and shall not be able to 
rise. 



This Psalm is the song of those who bear the easy yoke of Jesus. " The 
wicked are contrasted with the righteous, and the great Lord of devout men 
is heartily extolled ; thus obedience to so good a Master is indirectly insisted 
on, and rebellion against Him is plainly condemned." 

In verses 5 to 9, the Psalmist turns his contemplation to the glory of God. 
"Therefore the children of men pttt their trust under the shadow of Thy wings." 
" The best of reasons for the best of courses. The figure is very beautiful. 
The Lord overshadows His people as a hen protects her brood, or as an 
eagle covers its young; and we as the little ones run under the blessed 
shelter and feel at rest. To cower down under the wings of God is so 
sweet." — C. H. Spnrgeon. 

"'They shall be ahindantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house : and 
Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures' Mark, first, the 
excellency of the provision, fatness of Thy house', the 'river of Thy pleasures' 
The fattest is esteemed the fairest and the most excellent food ; therefore 
the saint was enjoined to offer the fat in sacrifice under the law. As God 

expects the best from us, so He gives the best to us But, though God 

keeps so noble a house to satisfy His people's hunger, what special care doth 
He take to quench their thirst ! ' Thou shalt make them drink of the river 
of Thy pleasures! Hath the child, then, any cause, when his Father keeps 
so rare and costly a table, to leave such dainties and go a-begging up and 
down the country for scraps and fragments? Oh, how much do these dis- 
grace their Parent's provision, and their own discretion!" — George Swinnock. 

Closet Promise. — For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace 
to her like a river. — Isa. Ixvi. 12. 



' Peace as a river,' so beauteously flowing 

Quietly onward through darkness or light, 
Toiling or resting, in sorrow or gladness. 



Sad our surroundings, or cheering and 

bright ; 
Onward, still onward serenely and grand 
To the ocean of love in the bright glory 

land." 



SEVENTEENTH WEEK. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



Breakfast Motto. — Cast thy bread upon the waters : for thou shalt find 
it after many days. — Eccles. xi. i. 

Weekly Proverb. — What's bred in the bone will never be out of the 
flesh. — English. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— ON GIVING. 

Sunday. — God Claims a Tenth of All. — Lev. xxvii. 30; Num. xviii. 20-24. 

Monday. —God's Promises to Such as Do This. — Mai. iii. 10; Prov. iii. 
9, 10. 

Tuesday. — Examples of Giving. — Heb. vii. 1-3. 

Wednesday. — Examples of Giving. — I Chron. xxix. 1-9. 

Thursday. — Examples of Giving. — Acts iv. 31-37. 

Friday. — Examples of Giving. — Mark xii. 41-44. 

Saturday. — General Rules for Giving. — Matt. x. 8 ; Luke vi. 38 ; 2 Cor. 
ix. 6-8. 

THE MANLY MAN. 



It isn't the boy who doubles his fists, 
And thrusts them under another's nose, 

Baring the sleeves from his rigid wrists, 
Ready to rain vindictive blows; 



Whose tongue is ready with gibe and jeer 
To stir up strife whenever he can. 

Breathing menace and waking fear, 
Who grows to be a manly man. 

—Selected. 



Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. — Eccles. xii. i. 

Dear children, you can never begin too early to become little Christians. 
I know many little boys and girls who are good members of church. 
Samuel, John the Baptist, and Timothy early gave their hearts to God. Old 
Fox, in his Book of Martyrs, gives one instance which ought not to be for- 
gotten. At Antioch, in November, in the year 303, a little boy was seized 
for the crime of confessing Christ and speaking against idols. When the 
question was put to him by the furious persecutor, " Who taught you this ? " 
he replied, " My mother, with whose milk I drank in this lesson, that I must 
believe in Christ." That child was scourged till even the heathen spectators 
wept; yet he bore it all without a murmur. He smiled when the execu- 
tioner tore the scalp from his head, and died clinging to the blessed truths 
of the Gospel, which his pious mother had taught him. Was he not a 
Christian ? Yet the historian tells us that he was only seven years of age. Oh ! 
dear children, give yourselves to Jesus while you are little. Then you will 
never get led away by the world ; and when you grow up you will never 
be sorry for it. 



THE GOAT-HERD OF GRANADA. 

I wonder how many of my little friends have ever lived among shepherds, 
who do nothing but take care of their sheep and goats. In mountainous re- 
gions in Granada and other countries you will often see no animals but 
sheep or goats whichever way you look. The flocks are sometimes very 
large, and the owners have to employ a great many shepherds to take care 
_of so great a number. They lead them forth from the fold, or from their 
houses in the villages, and find pasture for them. It is necessary, therefore, 
that they should be taught to follow, and not stray away i^nto the unfenced 
fields of corn which lie so temptingly on either side. In the goat-herd, in 
the picture, the big goats are so tame and well trained that they follow their 
keeper with the utmost docility. Sometimes the keepers go so far in search 
of good pasture that the little ones become weary or sick ; then the shep- 
herd picks them up and carries them home in a kind of basket, like the one 
in the picture thrown over the mule's back. How pleased the little ones 
seem ! how safe from all danger, for the shepherd's eye is upon them ! 

" The Lord is my Sheplierd, how happy am I ! 
How tender and waichful my wants to supply; 
He daily provides me with raiment and food ; 
Whate'er he denies me is meant for my good. 

" The Lord is my Shepherd, then I must obey 
His gracious commandments, and walk in his way; 
His fear he will teach me, my heart he'll renew, 
And though I am sinful, my sins he'll subdue." 

(224) 




THE GU.Vm]-:RI) OF (IRANADA. 



EIGHTEENTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. — Eph. v. i6. 



On the wild rose tree 
Many buds there be ; 
Yet each sunny hour 
Hath but one perfect flower. 



Thou who wouldst be wise, 
Open well thine eyes ; 
In each sunny hour 
Pluck the one perfect flower. 



He that waits for an opportunity to do much may breathe out his Hfe in 
idle wishes. — Selected. 

Four things come not back : the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past 
life, the neglected opportunity. — Selected. 

Opportunities are importunities. They are like flowers that fade at night ; 
seize them, therefore, while they last. — Selected. 

There are four good habits : punctuality, accuracy, steadiness, and de- 
spatch. Without the first of these, time is wasted; without the second, mis- 
takes the most hurtful to our own credit and interest, and that of others, 
may be committed ; without the third, nothing can be well done ; and with- 
out the fourth, opportunities of great advantage are lost, which it is impos- 
sible to recall. — Selected. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Ci,ay and the Potter. — Jer. xviii. i-io. 



1 The word which came to Jeremiah from 
the Lord, saying, 

2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, 
and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 

3 Then I went down to the potter's house, 
and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 

4 And the vessel that he made of clay was 
marred in the hand of the potter : so he made it 
again another vessel, as seemed good to the pot- 
ter to make it. 

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, 
saying, 

6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as 
this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the 



clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine 
hand, O house of Israel. 

7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a 
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, 
and to pull down, and to destroy it : 

8 If that nation, against whom I have pro- 
nounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of 
the evil that I thought to do unto them. 

9 And at what instant I shall speak concern- 
ing a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build 
and to plant it ; 

10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not 
my voice, then I will repent of the good, where- 
with I said I would benefit them. 



"We are the clay, and Thou our potter." That is true whether we give 
ourselves into the hands of God or not. It is true even while we are in re- 
bellion against God; it is true of us while in the blessed process of recon- 

(227) 



228 



ai©HTKSNTH WEEK. 



ciliation ; and true throughout the whole of the glorious process and prog- 
ress of redemption. 

" The first time I went to a potter's house was in a very remote part of the 
Southern States. I do not know that what I witnessed there was a fair sam- 
ple of the ruder forms of pottery, but I judge it was. I had never seen a 
vessel shaped on the wheel before, and I asked the potter to let me see him 
make one. He took a little lump of clay, but instead of putting it imme- 
diately on the wheel, he took it in one hand and began to give it very heavy 
blows with his fist. I almost thought he was angry with the poor clay be- 
Tore him, and I said, ' What are you doing with it ? I thought you were 
going to make a vessel.' ' So I am, when I get it ready. I am getting the 
air-bubbles out of it. If I were to put it on the wheel as it is, it would be 
spoiled in a few moments. One of those little bubbles would mar all my 
work. So I beat it and beat it, and in this way get all the air out of it.' 

"Ah ! I thought, so does God have to treat us. The great difficulty with 
us is those little bubbles of self-conceit, of our" own self-will, and sometimes 
of our self-righteousness — something that, in the process of God's work, 
would wonderfully mar it. So He has to deal with us severely ; but He is 
not angry with the poor clay before Him. He is not angry with us when 
He puts us through this process of adversity. He is only getting out of us 
all that would mar His blessed work. How wise it is, then, for us just to 
accept with perfect simplicity, His will." — Sarah F. Smiley. 



Closet Promise. — Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver : 
have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. — Isa. xlviii. lO. 



Let thy heart be cast in the furnace, 

Thy red gold, precious and bright; 
Do not fear the hungry fire. 

With its caverns of burning light ; 
And thy gold shall return more precious, 

Free from every spot and stain ; 
For gold must be tried by fire, 

And a heart must be tried by pain. 

In this cruel fire of sorrow 

Cast thy heart, nor faint, nor wail ; 
Let thy hand be firm and steady, 

Do not let thy spirit quail. 



Wait, thou, till thy trial passes ; 

Take thou, then, thy heart again; 
For as gold is tried by fire, 

So a heart is tried by pain. 

I shall know by the gleam and glitter 

Of the golden chain you wear, 
By your heart's calm strength in loving, 

Of the fire they have had to bear. 
Beat on, true heart, forever; 

Shine bright, strong golden chain; 
And bless the cleansing fire. 

And the furnace of living pain. 

— Adelaide Proctor. 



MONDAY. 

Good Tidings. — Luke ii. i 



I And it came to pass in those days, that I 2 And this taxing was first made when Cyre- 
there went out a decree from Cssar Augustus, plus was governor of Syria, 
that all the world should be taxed. 



MONDAY. 



229 



3 And all went to be taxed, every one into 
his own city. 

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, 
out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto 
the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, 
(because he was of the house and lineage of 
David,) 

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, 
being great with child. 

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, 
the days were accomplished that she should be 
delivered. 

7 And she brought forth her first-born son, 
and wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid 
him in a manger ; because there was no room 
for them in the inn. 

8 And there were in the same country shep- 
herds abiding in the field, keeping watch over 
their flock by night. 

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon 
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round 
about them; and they were sore afraid. 

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: 
for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
joy, which shall be to all people. 

11 For unto you is born this day in the city 
of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 

12 And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye 



shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling- 
clothes, lying in a manger. 

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a 
multitude of the heavenly host praising God, 
and saying, 

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, good will toward men. 

15 And it cnme to pass, as the angels were 
gone away from them into heaven, the shep- 
herds said one to another. Let us now go even 
unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is 
come to pass, v^hich the Lord hath made known 
unto us. 

16 And they came with haste and found 
Maiy and Joseph, and the babe lying in a man- 
ger. 

17 And when they had seen it, they made 
known abroad the saying which was told them 
concerning this child. • 

18 And all they that heard it wondered at 
those things which were told them by the shep- 
herds. 

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pon- 
dered them in her heart. 

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying 
and praising God for all the things that they had 
heard and seen, as it was told unto them. 



Christ came to an indifferent world. It had no arms wide open to receive 
Him. The inn which had a room for every one else, had no place for Him. 
" Christ was straitened for room in the inn, and thrust into the stable, that 
you might open your heart wide, and enlarge it, to give Him a habitation to 
content Him." — Bishop Hacket. 

The message which the angel brought was "good tidings of great joy." 
And this for "all peopled No favored few find preference before the manger 
or before the cross. " Whosoever will, let him come." 

The first Christmas carol: " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, good will toward men." The first note is "Glory to God." Why so? 
Because God is the giver of this salvation ; nay, is Himself the Saviour, in 
the person of the only-begotten Son. The next note is "Peace on earth." 
What kind of peace? Peace of conscience; peace of heart; peace of mind 
at ease about worldly affairs ; peace and union between brethren. The last 
note is "Good-will." "With malice toward none, with charity for all — this 
truly Christian motto of President Lincoln sounds almost like an earthly 
echo of the heavenly anthem, and certainly proves its power and influence 
in the history of the world." — P. Schaff. 



Closet Promise. — Thou shalt call His name Jesus : for He .shall save 
His people from their sins. — Matt. i. 21. 



230 



EIGHTEENTH WEEK. 



A living, loving, lasting word. 
My listening ear believing, heard 
While bending down in prayer: 
Like a sweet breeze that none can stay 
It passed my soul upon its way. 



And left a blessing there ; 
And joyful thoughts that come and go 
By paths the holy angels know. 

Encamped around my soul." 



TUESDAY. 

The Ungodly and the Godly Contrasted. — Psalm Ixxiii. 



1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such j 
as are of a clean heart. 

2 But as for me my feet were almost gone ; [ 
my steps had well nigh slipped. 

3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I I 
saw the prosperity of the wicked. j 

4 For there are no bands in their death : but ' 
their strength is firm. j 

5 They are not in trouble as other men ; nei- 
ther are they plagued like other men. 

6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as 
a chain ; violence covereth them as a garment. 

7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they 
have more than heart could wish. 

8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly eoti- 
ceriiing oppression : they speak loftily. 

9 They set their mouth against the heavens, 
and their tongue walketh through the earth. 

ID Therefore his people return hither: and 
waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. 

11 And they say. How doth God know? and 
is there knowledge in the Most High? 

12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who pros- 
per in the world ; they increase in riches. 

13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, 
and washed my hands in innocency. 

14 For all the daylong have I been plagued, 
and chastened every morning. 

15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I 
should offend against the generation of thy 
children. 

16 When I thought to know this, it was too 
painful for me; 



17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; 
then understood I their end. 

18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery 
places : thou castedst them down into destruc- 
tion. 

19 Hovv' are they brought into desolation, as 
in a moment! they are utterly consumed with 
terrors. 

20 As a dream when one awaketh ; so, O 
Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise 
their image. 

21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was 
pricked in my reins. 

22 So foolish was I, and ignorant : I was as 
a beast before thee. 

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee : 
thou hast holden me h- my right hand. 

24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and 
afterward receive me to glory. 

25 Whom have I in heaven i^«/ thee? and 
there is none upon earth that I desire besides 
thee. 

26 My flesh and my heart faileth ; but God 
is the strength of my heart, and my portion for- 
ever. 

27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall 
perish : thou hast destroyed all them that go a 
whoring from thee. 

28 But it is good for me to draw near to 
God : I have put my trust in the Lord GoD, 
that I may declare all thy works. 



The theme of this Psalm is "that ancient stumbHng-block of good men, 
which Job's friends could not get over, viz. : — the present prosperity of 
wicked men and the sorrows of the godly. Heathen philosophers have 
puzzled themselves about this, while to believers it has too often been a 
temptation." 

The Psalmi.st tells us what was his difficulty in verses 2-14; then from 15 
to 17 he is embarrassed as to how to act, but finally tells by what means he 
was helped out of the difficulty — namely, by going into the sanctuary, and 
proceeds to inform us what considerations they were which helped him. i. 
The consideration of the miserable end of wicked men (vers. 18-20). 2. 
The consideration of \}l\q. blessed end of the saints (vers. 21-24). 3- The 



TUESDAY. 



231 



consideration that the godly have a much better portion than the wicked, 
even though they have no other portion but God (vers. 25, 26). 

" Though the wicked are in prosperity, and are not in trouble as other 
men; yet the godly, though in affliction, are in a state infinitely better, be- 
cause they have God for their portion. They need desire nothing else ; he 
that hath God hath all. Thus the Psalmist professes the sense and appre- 
hension which he had of things : ' Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and 
there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.' In the twenty-fourth 
verse the Psalmist takes notice how the saints are happy in God, both when 
they are in this world and also when they are taken to another. They are 
blessed in God in this world, in \\\d.X. He guides them by His counsel ; and 
when He takes them out of it they are still happy, in that He receives them 
to glory. This probably led him to declare that he desired no other portion, 
either in this world or in that to come, either in heaven or upon earth." — Jon- 
athan Edwards. 

Closet Promise. — They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, 
which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. — Psalm cxxv. i. 



I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea 
Come drifting home with broken masts and 

sails ; 
I will believe the Hand which never fails, 
From seeming evil, worketh good for me. 

And though I weep because those sails are 

tattered, 
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shat- 
tered, 

" I'll trust in Thee." 



I will not doubt. Well anchored in this faith, 
Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every 

gale; 
So strong its courage that it will not quail 
To breast the mighty, unknown sea of deaih. 
Oh ! may I cry, though body parts with spirit, 
" I do not doubt," so listening worlds may 
hear it, 

With my last breath. 

— Selected. 



WEDNESDAY. 

Watch.— I Thess. v. i-ii. 



1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, 
ye have no need that I write unto you. 

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day 
of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety ; 
then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as 
travail upon a woman with child; and they 
shall not escape. 

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that 
that day should overtake you as a thief. 

5 Ye are all the children of light, and the 
children of the day : we are not of the night, nor 
of darkness. 



6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others ; 
but let us watch and be sober. 

7 For they that sleep sleep in the night ; and 
they that be drunken are drunken in tlie night. 

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, 
putting on the breastplate of faith and love ; and 
for a helmet, the hope of salvation. 

9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, 
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 

10 Who died for us, that whether we wake or 
sleep, we should live together with him. 

1 1 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, 
and edify one another, even as also ye do. 



One main object of the apostle in writing his letters to the Thessalonians 
was to correct the erroneous impressions which they had with regard to the 



232 



EIGHTEENTH WEEK. 



Lord's second coming and their attitude towards it. He declares to them 
that the time of the Lord's coming is uncertain — that it will come as a 
thief in the night. But, in this chapter, he turns their thoughts from star- 
gazing to homely duties, and exhorts to the faithful discharge of them, that 
through their neglect the name of Christ might not fall into reproach. 

''Therefore let us not sleep, as do others: but let us watch and be sober T 
This is a military figure. An army is watchful, whether upon the march or 
in the camp. 

" Now we are making a campaign through life. We are upon an enemy's 
ground ; we are surrounded, or liable to be surrounded, with adversaries who 
will rush in upon us, and take us captives at unawares. We are commanded, 
therefore, to do as soldiers do, whether in fort or in camp — to be always 
vigilant, always prepared." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — And the work of righteousness shall be peace ; and 
the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. — Isa. xxxii. 17. 

It matters not where or what we are, so we be His servants. They are 
happy who have a wide field and great strength to fulfil His missions of 
compassion ; and the}'-, too, are blessed who, in sheltered homes and narrow 
ways of duty, wait upon Him in lowly services of love. Wise or simple, 
gifted or slender in knowledge, in the world's gaze or in hidden paths, high 
or low, encompassed by affections and joys of home, or lonely and content 
in God alone, what matters, so that they bear the seal of the living God ? 
Blessed company, unknown to each other, unknowing even themselves ! 
— H. E. Manning. 

THURSDAY. 

Don't Worry.— Matt. vi. 24-34. 



24 \ No man can serve two masters : for 
either he will hate the one, and love the other; 
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the 
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thouglit 
for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall 
drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put 
on. Is not the life more than meat, and the 
body than raiment ? 

26 Behold the fowls of the air : for they sow 
not, neither do they reap, nor gather into Iwrns : 
yet your heavenly Father feedeth ihem. Are ye 
not much better than they ? 

27 Which of you by taking thought can add 
one cubit unto his stature ? 

28 And why take ye thought for raiment ? 
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; 
they toil not, neither do they spin : 

29 And yet I say unto you, that even Solo- 



mon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of 
these. 

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of 
the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast 
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe -^ovi, 
O ye of little faith ? 

31 Therefore take no thought, saying? What 
shall we eat? or. What shall we drink, or. 
Wherewithal shall we be clothed ? 

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles 
seek :) for your heavenly Father knoweth that 
ye have need of all these things. 

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and 
His righteousness ; and all these things shall be 
added unto you. 

34 Take therefore no thought for the mor- 
row ; for the morrow shall take thought for the 
things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the 
evirthereof. 



THURSDAY. 



2SS 



The word fret means to fray — to wear out — as a frayed garment. Fret- 
ting wears out the mind and body. It is not work, but worry that kills. 
Sir Walter Scott was a wonderful worker — it did him no harm — but when 
he lost his property, anxiety brought him to paralysis and deatli. " We 
may consider the year before us as a desk containing 365 letters addressed 
to us ; one for every day, announcing its trials and prescribing its employ- 
ments, with an order to open daily no letter but the letter/*?/' the day. Now, 
we may be strongly tempted to unseal, beforehand, some of the remainder. 
This, however, would serve only to embarrass us, while we should violate the 
rule which our Owner and Master has laid down for us." — Jay. 

" I have read of a little child who was often observed playing by itself, 
and laughing and singing with delight. They asked the child what it was 
playing with, and the little one answered, ' I am playing with sunbeams.' It 
would be better for some of us who are too apt to look on the dark side to 
imitate that happy child." — Wilutot Buxton. 

Closet Promise. — Take therefore no thought for the morrow : for the 
morrow shall take thought for the things of itself — Matt. vi. 34. 

It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. 
It is when to-morrow's burden is added to the burden of to-day that the 
weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends. 
If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this : it is your own 
doing, not God's. He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the 
present. — G. MacDonald. 

FRIDAY. 

Christian Courage. — Josh. i. 1-9. 



1 Now after the death of Moses the servant 
of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord 
spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' min- 
ister, saying, 

2 Moses my servant is dead ; now therefore 
arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this 
people, unto the land which I do give to them, 
even to the children of Israel. 

3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall 
tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I 
said unto Moses. 

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even 
unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all 
the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea 
toward the going down of the sun, shall be 
your coast. 

5 There shall not any man be able to stand 
before thee all the days of thy life : as I was 
with Moses, so I will be with thee ; I v/ill not 
fail thee, nor forsake thee. 



6 Be strong and of a good courage : for unto 
this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance 
the land, which I sware unto their fathers to 
give them. 

7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, 
that thou mayest observe to do according to all 
the law, which Moses my servant commanded 
thee : turn not from it fo the right hand or to 
the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever 
thou goest. 

8 This book of the law shall not depart out 
of thy mouth ; but thou shalt meditate tlierein 
day and night, that thou mayest observe to do 
according to all that is written therein : for 
then thou shalt make tliy way prosperous, and 
then thou shalt have good success. 

9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong 
and of a good courage ; be not afraid, neither 
be thou dismayed : for the Lord thy God U 
with thee whithersoever thou goest. 



234 



EIGHTEENTH WEEK. 



Three times God exhorted Joshua to " be strong and very courageous." 
God can do nothing for, or with, a weak or discouraged man ; while He can 
do everything for the man who has the strength and courage of faith. 

God does not lay heavy duties upon us without giving us corresponding 
assurances of strength. So He did with Joshua. "/ will be witli thee." 
Then follow particulars : " I will not fail thee." No matter how critical the 
time, I will not fail. " Nor forsake thee." Whoever else is unfaithful or 
treacherous, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee so long as thou art in 
the way of My commandment. And is it not so to-day ? Cannot I do all 
things through Him that strengtheneth me? 

" Was He ever foiled or subdued by an enemy ? He hath been assaulted, 
indeed, but was He ever conquered ? Can they take the sheep till they 
have overcome the Shepherd ? Why, then, doth my flesh lay open to me 
the difficulties and urge me so much with the greatness and troubles of the 
work? Is anything too hard for the omnipotent God? . . . Surely, these 
serpents' teeth are out; these vipers are easily shaken into the fire ; these 
adders have no stings ; these thorns have lost their prickles. As all things 
below are silly comforters, so are they silly, toothless enemies ; bugbears to 
frighten fools and children, rather than powerful, dreadful foes." — Baxter. 

* Closet Promise. — Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dis- 
mayed by reason of this great multitude ; for the battle is not yours, but 
God's. — 2 Chron. xx. 15. 



Bear up courageously, my soul ; 

Shrink not despondingly, 
Nor bow to care, nor fear's control ; 

Christ conquers all for thee. 

Though Satan now His hosts combine. 
Yield not to gloomy doubt ; 

Sing ! for the victory is thine ; 
Cry out aloud and shout ! 



Christ hath o'ercome thy foes for thee, 

He teacheth thee to fight, 
He, He alone gives victory, 

And clothes thee with His might. 

Sing ! Sing to God, while all within 

To victory's note accords, 
Christ will o'ercome the hosts of sin ; 

The battle is the Lord's. 

—Mrs. Phcebe Palmer. 



SATURDAY. 

The All-Suffici£ncy of God's Help. — Isa. xl. 25-31. 



25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall 
I be equal ? saith the Holy One. 

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold 
uiio liath created these things, that bringeth out 
their host by number : he calleth them all by 
names by the greatness of his might, for that 
he is strong in power; not one faileth. 

27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, 
O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and 
my judgment is passed over from my God ? 

28 Hast ihou not known? hast thou m.t 
heard, ///«/ the overlnsting Goil, the Lokd, the 



Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, 
neither is weary? there is no searching of his 
understanding. 

29 He giveth power to the faint ; and to them 
that have no might he increaseth strength. 

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, 
and the young men shall utterly fall : 

31 But they that wait upon tlie Lord shall 
renew their strength : they shall mount up witli 
wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be 
weary; aw// they shall walk, and not faint. 




LAZARUS AND DIVES. 

If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, 

though one rose from the dead. — L7ike xvi. 31. 

236 



SATURDAY. 



23^ 



" I know of no attribute of the Divine nature more cheering to us than 
that of the infinite love and tenderness of God amidst the minute things 
and beings of His creation. He gives His infinite regards to the least, to 
birds, and to flowers ; to men, and to women, and to lowly villages. There 
is nothing small or insignificant with God. ' Why sayest thou, O Jacob, 
and speakest, O Israel, " My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment 
is passed over from my God ? " He giveth power to the faint ; and to them 
that have no might He increaseth strength.' " — E. Paxton Hood. 

By the mouth of Isaiah the " everlasting God " speaks great words of 
comfort and of hope to the weak, the faint-hearted, the de.sponding ; He who 
" fainteth not, neither is weary," has His eye upon them, though they see 
Him not. There is always and everywhere at hand — in duty, in suffering, 
in service for Christ — an unseen Presence, and Strength, and Providence, 
all-encompassing, all-controlling, all-sufficient, and instantly and practically 
available. We have but to venture forward, to endure, to trust, to prove 
God's promises, and we shall not fail, but shall overcome. Out of our weak- 
ness will come forth divine strength ; out of our seeming failures grand suc- 
cesses ; out of our humiliations and afflictions, exaltation and eternal glory. 

Closet Promise. — They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and 
not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. — Isa. xl. 31. 



All they that wait upon the Lord 
Shall thus their strength renew ; 

And eagle flights shall oft afford 
A soul-exalting view. 

They serve the wailing soul to bless, 
To cheer the pilgrim saint, 

To run and feel no weariness, 
To walk and never faint. 

Thus Moses on the mount of God, 
When bathed in glory rays. 



Found strength to walk the desert road. 
The remnant of his days. 

Then let us, waiting on the Lord, 

Our daily strength renew, 
And strong in faith with one accord 

Our pilgrimage pursue. 

And when the final hour we see. 

We'll shout on angel wing, 
" O grave, where is thy victory ? 

O death, where is thy sting? " 

—Selected. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. — 
John vi. 32. 

Weekly Proverb. — It takes a good many shovelfuls of earth to bury 
the truth. — Swiss. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— HIDING PLACES. 
Sunday. — In a Pavilion. — Psalm xxvii. 1-14. 



238 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



Monday. — In the Secret of God's Presence. — Psalm xxxi. 1-24. 

Tuesday. — Hidden Ones. — Psalm Ixxxiii. 1-18. 

Wednesday. — With Christ in God. — Col. iii. 1-17. 

Thursday. — Hid from God's Anger. — Zeph. ii. 1-3. 

Friday. — In God. — Psalm xxxii. l-l i. 

Saturday. — In Dens and Rocks. — Rev. vi. 9-17. 

DEAR LITTLE HEADS IN THE PEW. 



In the morn of the holy Sabbath, 

I like in the church to see 
The dear liule children clustered, 

Worshipping there with me. 
I am sure that the gentle pastor, 

"Whose words are like summer dew, 
Is cheered as he gazes over 

The dear little heads in the pew. 

Faces earnest and thoughtful, 

Innocent, grave, and sweet, 
They look in the congregation 

Like lilies among the wheat. 
And I think that the tender Master, 

Whose mercies are ever new. 
Has a special benediction 

For dear little heads in the pew. 



When they hear, " The Lord is my Shepherd,' 

Or " Suffer the babes to come," 
They are glad that the loving Jesus 

Has given the lambs a home — 
A place of their own with His people. 

He cares for me and for you. 
But clo.se in His arms He gathers 

The dear little heads in the pew. 

So I love in the great assembly. 

On the Sabbath morns, to see 
The dear little children clustered. 

And worshipping there with me ; 
For I know that my precious Saviour, 

Whose mercies are ever new, 
Has a special benediction 

For the dear little heads in the pew. 

—Mrs. M. E. Sangster. 



My son, give me thine heart. — Prov. xxiii. 26. 

I know you will like to hear more about little children who have given 
their hearts to Jesus. In a Chinese Christian family at Amboy a little boy, 
on asking his father to allow him to be baptized, was told that he was too 
young — that he might fall back if he made a profession when he was only 
a little boy. To this he made the reply : "Jesus has promised to carry the 
lambs in His arms. I am only a little boy — it will be easier for Jesus to 
carry me." This logic was too much for the father. He took him with 
him, and the child was ere long baptized. Dear children, there is one way 
you always can tell whether a boy or gii-1 is a Christian : it is by the way they 
play. Two little children', a boy and girl, used to play a great deal to- 
gether. They both became converted. One day the boy came to his 
mother and said : " Mother, I know that Emma is a Christian." " What 
makes you think so, my child ? " — " Because, mother, she plays like a Chris- 
tian. Before she was selfish, and, if she didn't have everything her own 
way, she would say, ' I won't play with you : you are an ugly little boy.' " 
Oh, how much nicer it is \.o play like little Christians! 



NINETEENTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. 
—Matt. X. 38. 



And there was calm ! 

O Saviour, I have proved 
Tliat Thou to help and save art really near ; 
How else this quiet rest from grief and fear, 



And all distress? The cross is not removed, 
I must go forth to bear it as before. 
But, leaning on Thine arm, I dread its weight 
no more. 

— F. R. Havergni. 



We are bid to take, not to make, our cross. God provides it. 
bid to take it tip ; we hear nothing of laying it down. — Gurnall. 
The whole cross is more easily carried than the half. — Selected. 
I am heir to the cross, as well as the crown. — St. Bernard. 
O what a cross to have no cross. — St. Auztistine. 



We are 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Sure Afterward. — Heb. xii. 



13- 



1 Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed 
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us 
lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth 
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience 
the race that is set before us. 

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher 
of our faith ; who for the joy that was set be- 
fore him endured the cross, despising the shame, 
and is set down at the right hand of the throne 
of God. 

3 For consider him that endured such contra- 
diction of sinners against himself, lest ye be 
wearied and faint in your minds. 

4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striv- 
ing against sin. 

5 And ye have forgotten the exhort.ition 
which speaketh unto you as unto children, My 
son, despise not thou the chastening of the 
Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him : 

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with 



you as with sons ; for what son is he whom the 
father chasteneth not? 

8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof 
all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not 

9 Furthermore, we have had fathers of our 
flesh which corrected us, and we gave them 
reverence: shall we not much rather be in sub- 
jection unto the Father of spirits, and live ? 

10 For they verily for a few days chastened 
7is after their own pleasure; but he for our 
profit, that 7i.li- might be partakers of his holiness. 

1 1 Now no chastening for the present seem- 
eth to be joyous, but grievous : nevertheless, 
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of 
righteonsnesf unto ihem which are exercised 
thereby. 

12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang 
down, and the feeble knees; 

13 And make straight palhs for your feet, lest 
that which is lame be turned out of the way; 
but let it rather be healed. 



Christians are not promised freedom from trouble. There are many troub- 
les which God brings upon His people, or permits them to bring upon 
themselves, which He does not care to take away from them, and which it is 
not best for them to have removed. Continued troubles are not, therefore, 
evidences of God's displeasure. He expressly affirms that, unless you have 

(239) 



240 



NINETEENTH WEEK. 



such troubles, you cannot be His sons — He cannot be a loving parent to 
you. 

" Some seem to think that a man, to be a Christian, ought to be able not 
to suffer when suffering comes ; but the ache of suffering is a part of the 
medicine. You might as well say that manliness requires that a man should 
drink bitter draughts, and call them sweet, as to say that Christianity re- 
quires that a man should bear suffering, and say that it is not suffering. It 
requires no such thing. It does not even require that we should illumine 

suffering so that for the present it shall seem joyous No afflictions 

for the present are joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward they yield 
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby." 
—H. W. Beecher. 

" Perhaps there have been a dozen different things to-day which were ' not 
joyous, but grievous ' to you. And though you feel ashamed of feeling 
them so much, and hardly like to own to their having been so trying, and 
would not think of dignifying them as ' chastening,' yet, if they come under 
the Lord's definition, He not only knows all about them, but they were, 
every one of them, chastenings from His hand ; neither to be despised and 
called 'just nothing,' when all the while they did' grieve' you; nor to be 
wearied of; because they are working out blessing to you and glory to 
Him. Every one of them has been an unrecognized token of His love and 
interest in you; for 'whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.'" — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joy- 
ous, but grievous : nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of 
righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. — Heb. xii. ii. 

The particular annoyance which befell you this morning ; the vexatious 
words which met your ear and " grieved" your spirit; the disappointment 
which was His appointment for to-day; the slight but hindering ailment ; 
the presence of some one^ who is " a grief of mind " to you — whatever this 
day seemeth not joyous, but grievous, is linked in " the good pleasure of 
His goodness " with a corresponding afterward of " peaceable fruit," the 
very seed from which, if you only do not choke it, this shall spring and 
ripen. — F. R. Havergal. 



MONDAY. 

A Penitential Psalm.— Psalm vi. 



1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, 
neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 

2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord ; for I am 



weak : O Lord, heal me ; for my bones are 
vexed. 

3 My soul is also sore vexed : but thou, O 
Lord, how long ? 



MONDAY. 



241 



4 Return, O Lord, deliver my soul : oh save 
me for thy mercies' sake. 

5 For in death there is no remembrance of 
thee : in the grave who shall give thee thanks ? 

6 I am weary with my groaning ; all the 
night make I my bed to swim ; I water my 
couch with my tears. 

7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it 
waxeth old because of all mine enemies. 



8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; 
for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weep- 
ing. 

9 The Lord hath heard my supplication ; the 
Lord will receive my prayer. 

10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and 
sore vexed : let them return and be ashamed 
suddenly. 



This Psalm is commonly known as the first of The Penitential Psalms. 
The other six are, xxxii., xxxviii., li., cii., cxxx., cxliii. Certainly the lan- 
guage in this Psalm " well becomes the lip of a penitent, for it expresses at 
once tlic sorrow (verses 3, 6, 7), the humiliation (verses 2, 4), and the hatred 
of sin (verse 8), which are the unfailing marks of the contrite spirit when it 
turns to God." 

From the first to the end of the seventh verse, there is the Psalmist's plea 
in his great distress. " God hath two means by which He reduceth His chil- 
dren to obedience : His word, by which He rebukes them ; and His rod, by 
which He chastiseth them. . . . When men neglect the warnings of His 
word, then God, as a good father, takes up the rod and beats them." — A. 
Symson. 

From the eighth verse to the end, the Psalmist changes his note. He 
tunes his note to the high key of confidence, and declares that God hath 
heard his prayer, and hath delivered him out of all his troubles. " Weeping 
may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." 

Closet Promise. — Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies, and Thy 
lovingkindnesses ; for they have been ever of old. — Psalm xxv. 6. 



" My Father ! see, 
1 trust the faithfulness displayed of old, 



I trust the love that never can grow cold- 
I trust in Thee." 



TUESDAY. 

Our Heavenly Home. — John x 



-14. 



1 Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe 
in God, believe also in me. 

2 In my Father's house are many mansions : 
if il were not so, I would have told you. I go 
to prepare a place for you. 

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I 
will come again, and receive you unto myself; 
that where I am, there ye may be also. 

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way 
ye know. 

5 Thomas saith unto him. Lord, we know 
not whither thou goest ; and how can we know 
the way ? 

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the 

14 



truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the 
Father, but by me. 

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known 
my Father also ; and from henceforth ye know 
him, and have seen him. 

8 Philip saith unto him. Lord, shew us the 
Father, and it sufficeth us. 

9 Jesus saith unto him. Have I been so long 
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, 
Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the 
Father ; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the 
Father ? 

10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, 
and the Father in me ? the words that I speak 



242 



NINETEENTH WEEK. 



unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father 
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 

11 Believe me Ihut 1 am in the Father, and 
the Father in me : or else believe me for the 
very works' sake. 

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that be- 
lieveth on me, the works that I do shall he do 



also ; and greater works than these shall he do; 
because I go unto my Father. 

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, 
that will I do, that tlie Father may be glorified 
in the Son. 

14 If ye shall ask anything in my name, I 
will do it. 



Wonderful are the preparations which God has made for His people in 
heaven. 

" When you lift up your eyes to heaven, and behold that spangled, azure 
canopy, beset and inlaid with so many golden studs and sparkling gems, 
you see but the floor or pavement of that place which God has prepared for 
some souls. He furnished this world for us before He put us into it ; but, 
as delightful as it is, it is no more to be compared with the Father's house 
in heaven, than the smallest ruined chapel your eyes ever beheld is to be 
compared with Solomon's temple, when it stood in all its glory." — Flavel. 

" If dying was to be thrust out of life, and to emigrate to a land where 
we have no friends; where there are none that know us and where we know 
none; it would be a sad thing indeed. But if our names are known in 
heaven ; if they are written in the Lamb's book of life, and if Jesus Christ 
has ever been our Head, our Leader, our Mediator, administering in our be- 
half and preparing a place for us, that where He is, there we may be also ; then 
heaven will be familiar to us, and dying will not be so much to be deplored. 
After this life is over, heaven will seem to us like home. Already it begins 
to draw us. Our losses fly up there and become riches. If the cage-door 
lets out our warbler, the woods get him, even if we lose him. We hear 
him singing afar, even if he will not return to our hand. So we give to 
heavenly fields what we lose from earth. And the belief that in heaven our 
fathers have long dwelt, that we are going there, and that our names are 
there known and affectionately called, is comforting indeed." — U. W. Beecher. 



Closet Promise. - 

Heb. xi. 16, 



-They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly.- 



" Who would not go 
With buoyant steps to gain that blessed portal 
Which opens to the land we long to know, 
Where shall be satisfied the souls immortal; 
Where we shall drop the wearying and the 
woe 

In resting so. 



" Oh, wonderous land ! 
Fairer than all our spirit's fairest dreaming : 
' Eye hath not seen ' — no heart can under- 
stand 
The things prepared, the cloudless radiance 
streaming. 
How longingly we wait our Lord's command, 
His opening hand." 



NINETEENTH WEEK. 



24:5 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Gift of Peace. — John xiv. 15-31. 



15 ^ If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall 
give you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you for ever; 

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the 
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, 
neither knoweth him : but ye know him ; for he 
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will 
come to you. 

19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me 
no more ; but ye see me : because I live, ye 
shall live also. 

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in 
my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 

21 He that hath my commandments, and 
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me : and he 
that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and 
I will love him, and will manifest myself to 
him. 

22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, 
how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, 
and not unto the world? 

23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a 
man love me, he will keep my words: and my 
Father will love him, and we will come unto 
him, and make our abode with him. 

24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my 



sayings : and the word which ye hear is not 
mine, but the Father's which sent me. 

25 These things have I spoken unto you, be- 
ing jr^ present with you. 

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy 
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, 
he shall teach you all things, and bring all 
things to your remembrance, whatsoever 1 have 
said unto you. 

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto 
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither 
let it be afraid. 

28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go 
away, and come again unto you. If ye loved 
me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto 
the Father : for my Father is greater than I. 

29 And now I have told you before it come 
to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might 
believe. 

30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you : 
for the prince of this world conieth, and hath 
nothing in me. 

31 But that the world may know that I love 
the Father ; and as the Father gave me com- 
mandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go 
hence. 



" ' Peace I leave with you ' is much ; ' My peace I give unto you ' is 
more. The added word tells the fathomless marvel of the gift — ' My peace.' 
Not merely ' peace with God ; ' Christ has made that by the blood of His 
cross, and being justified by faith we have it through Him. But after we 
are thus reconciled, the enmity and the separation being ended, Jesus has a 
gift for us from His own treasures ; and this is its special and wonderful 
value, that it is His very ow7t. How we value a gift which was the giver's 
own possession ! What a special token of intimate friendship we feel it to 
be ! To others we give what we have made or purchased ; it is only to 
very near and dear ones that we give what has been our own personal en- 
joyinent or use. And so Jesus gives us not only peace made and peace 
purchased, but a share in His very own peace — divine, eternal, incompre- 
hensible peace — which dwells in His own heart as God, and which shone in 
splendor of calmness through His life as man. No wonder that it 'passeth 
all understanding.' " — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : 
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. — John xiv. 27. 



244 



NINETEENTH WEEK. 



Thy reign is perfect peace, 

Not mine, but Thine ; 
A stream that cannot cease. 



For its fountain is Thy heart. Oh, depth un- 
known ! 
Thou givest of Thine own, 

Pouring from Thine, and filling mine. 

— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



THURSDAY. 

' The Builder's Psalm." — Psalm cxxvii. 



1 Except the Lord build the house, they 
labour in vain that build it : except the Lord 
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in 
vain. 

2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up 
late, to eat the bread of sorrows : for&o he giv- 
eth his beloved sleep. 



3 Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord : 
and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 

4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty 
man ; so are children of the youth. 

5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full 
of them : they shall not be ashamed, but they 
shall speak with the enemies in the gate. 



The subject of this Psahn is God's blessing on His people as their one 
great necessity and privilege. 

" We are here taught that builders of houses and cities, systems and for- 
tunes, empires and churches all labor in vain without the Lord ; but under 
the divine favor they enjoy perfect rest. Sons, who are in the Hebrew 
called 'builders,' are set forth as building up families under the same divine 
blessing, to the great honor and happiness of their parents." 

The word vain is the key-note here, and we hear it ring out clearly three 
times. Without God, the Master-builder, we are nothing. 

"Around the wall the sentinels pace with constant step ; but yet the city 
is betrayed unless the unsleeping Watcher is with them. We are not safe 
because of watchmen if Jehovah refuses to watch over us. Even if the 
guards are wakeful, and do their duty, still the place may be surprised if 
God be not there. ' I, the Lord, do keep it,' is better than an army of sleep- 
less guards." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

Also, " unless we have His blessing, a dwelling-house cannot be comfort- 
ably erected. And if His blessing be not on our children, the house (the 
family) may be built up ; but instead of its being the house of God, it will 
be the synagogue of Satan. All marriages that are not under God's bless- 
ing will be a private and public curse." — Adam Clarke. 

" On the lintel of the door in many an old English house, we may still 
read the words. Nisi Dominus frustra — the Latin version of the opening 
words of this Psalm. Let us also trust in Him, and inscribe these words 
over the portal of 'the house of our pilgrimage;' and beyond a doubt all 
zvill be well with us, both in this world and in that which is to come." — 
Sarmiel Cox. 

Closet Promise. — The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by 
Him, and the Lord shall cover him all the day. — Deut. xxxiii. I2. 



THURSDAY. 



245 



Beyond everything else the discouraged man or woman who lies awake 
at night nursing trouble and growing weaker to meet it, or striving with 
terrors that have no name, should remember that, straw though each of us 
be, we are of value in God's eyes. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? 
But ye are of more value than many sparrows." '* I will remember Thee 
on my bed," said David, " and meditate on Thee in the night watches." It 
is not in vain that we call upon God, not in vain that we invoke the heavenly 
hosts to come to our relief And if only our eyes were opened we should 
see, O how often, the angel of the Lord encamped round about us, and just 
before us, flung wide for our shelter and salvation, the banners of the King ! 



FRIDAY. 

Jacob's Prevailing Prayer.— Gen. : 



9-12, 22-30. 



9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abra- 
ham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord 
which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, 
and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with 
thee: 

10 I am not worthy of the least of all the 
mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast 
shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I 
passed over this Jordan ; and now I am become 
two bands. 

1 1 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand 
of my brother, from the hand of Esau : for I 
fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and 
the mother with the children. 

12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee 
good, and make thy seed as the sand of the 
sea, which can not be numbered for multitude. 



22 And he rose up that night, and took his 
two wives, and his two women-servants, and 
his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Tab- 
bok. 



23 And he took them, and sent them over 
the brook, and sent over that he had. 

24 ^ And Jacob was left alone, and there 
wrestled a man with him until the breaking of 
the day. 

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not 
against him, he touched the hollow of his 
thigh ; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out 
of joint, as he wrestled with him. 

26 And he said. Let me go, for the day 
breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, 
except thou bless me. 

27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? 
And he said, Jacob. 

28 And he said. Thy name shall be called 
no more Jacob, but Israel : for as a prince hast 
thou power with God and with men, and hast 
prevailed. 

29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, 
I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Where- 
fore is it that thou dost ask after my name ? 
And he blessed him there. 

30 And Jacob called the name of the place 
Peniel : for I have seen God, face to face, and 
my life is preserved. 



Note that the stress, the force, the very sinew of Jacob's prayer consisted 
in his pleading the promise of God with God. When he came to real 
wrestling with the Lord, then he cried, " Thou saidst." That is the way to 
lay hold upon the covenant angel — " Thou saidst." The art of wrestling 
lies much in a proper use of " Thou saidst." Jacob, with all his mistakes, 
was a master of the art of prayer: we justly call him "wrestling Jacob." 
He said, " I will not let Thee go." He gets grip for his hands out of this 
" Thou saidst." 

Here we see true prayer. Saying a prayer is not truly praying. The way 
to get the blessing is to go to the Lord for it, resolved not to take a denial, 



246 



NINETEENTH WEEK. 



nor to part with Him even till we get it. Our Lord allows and encourages 
His people to use a holy freedom and familiarity with Him, yea, a holy im- 
portunity, as He teaches us (Luke xi. 8, 9). 

" Jacob did not offer a ha.sty prayer for safety merely in general terms, 
and then go about his worldly business with all the intensity of his nature. 
His need was urgent, was deeply felt, and he found time enough to press it 
before God. The whole night was none too long for his business with God. 
Wrestling, Jacob came to a point where he was powerless. All he could do 
was to hold fast to God. God never takes from any of His children their 
power to do this. Every other refuge may be swept away, but they can 
cling still." 

Closet Promise. — It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will an- 
swer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. — Isa. Ixv. 24. 

We quote the experience of one who through patience and faith has 
wrought great things for God — George Miiller. He says : " The full answer 
to my daily prayers was far from being realized, yet there was abundant en- 
couragement granted by the Lord to continue in prayer. But suppose, even, 
that far less had come in than was received, still, after having come to the 
conclusion upon scriptural grounds, after much prayer and self-examination, 
I ought to have gone on without wavering in the exercise of faith and pa- 
tience concerning this object, and thus all the children, of God, when once 
satisfied that anything which they bring before God in prayer is according 
to His will, ought' to continue in believing, expecting, persevering prayer 
until the blessing is granted. Thus I am myself now waiting upon God for 
- certain blessings for which I have daily besought Him for ten years and 
six months without one day's intermission." 

SATURDAY. 

All-Sufficient Grace. — 2 Cor. xii. i-io. 



1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to 
glory. I will come to visions and revelations 
of the Lord. 

2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen 
years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, or 
whether out of the body I cannot tell ; God 
knoweth : such a one caught up to the third 
heaven. 

3 And I knew such a man, whether in the 
body, or out of the body, I cannot tell ; God 
knoweth : 

4 How thai he was caught up into paradise, 
and heard unspeakable words, which it is not 
lawful for a man to utter. 



5 Of such a one will I glory : yet of myself 
I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. 

6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall 
not be a fool ; for I will say the truth : but now 
I forbear, lest any man should think of me 
above that which he seeth me to be, or that he 
heareth of me. 

7 And lest I should be exalted above meas- 
ure through the abundance of the revelations, 
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the 
messenger of Satan to bufifel me, lest I should 
be exalted above measure. 

S For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, 
that it might depart from me. 



SATURDAY. 247 

9 And he said unto me, My grace is suffi- l lo Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, 

cient for thee : for my strength is made perfect 1 in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in 
in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am 
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of weak, then am I strong. 

Christ may rest upon me. | 

" Give up praying away thy thorn, O Christian, and take to heart the 
promise of all-sufficient grace ; then shalt thou begin with Paul to boast of 
thy weakness and shelter thyself in Christ's own power." — W. F. Besser. 

" It is every Christian's duty to have a victory either oz'er his trials or zu 
them. And this last is the better of the two, and far more glorious ; for it 
is a higher exhibition of Christian manliness to be able to bear trouble than 
to get rid of it. To be able to endure is more manly than to have nothing 
to endure. Who could not be a Christian if every time anything touched 
him to hurt him prayer was like a shield struck right between the weapon 
and the sensitive skin, so that he could always avoid pain ? But if trouble 
really wrings the nerve and muscle of a man, and then a heroism is vouch- 
safed to him, such that he can afford to have it continued, there is awakened 
in him a manhood which is transcendently higher than that which would be 
awakened if the trouble were removed in answer to his prayer. And this is 
the promise of the Saviour to the apostle, and, by analogy, to every one 
that bears trouble : either that it shall be removed, or that grace shall be 
given with which to bear it. God says, ' My grace shall be sufficient for 
you. Take trouble and bear it, and I will sustain you under it.' " — H. W. 
Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is 
made perfect in weakness. — 2 Cor. xii. 9. 

Dr. George Matherson, of Scotland, is totally blind, and yet he is one of 
the most learned and gifted men in all Britain. The following touching 
words from his pen ought to strengthen the Christian patience of God's 
afflicted children : " My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I 
have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. 
I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for 
my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. 
Thou, divine love, whose human path has been perfected through sufferings, 
teach me the glory of my cross ; teach me the value of my thorn. Show 
me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my 
tears have made my rainbow. Reveal to me that my strength was the 
product of the hour when I wrestled until the break of day. Then shall I 
know that my thorn was blessed by Thee ; then shall I know that my cross 
was a gift from Thee, and I shall raise a monument to the hour of my sor- 



248 



NINETEENTH WEEK. 



row, and the words which I shall write upon it will be these : ' It is good 
for me that I have been afflicted.' " 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 
righteousness ; for they shall be filled. — Matt. v. 6. 

Weekly Proverb. — Before you marry, have where to tarry. — Italian. 

DAILY BIBLE READING. -JESUS THE MAN OF PRAYER. 

Sunday. — At His Baptism. — Luke iii. 21, 22. 
Monday. — After Healing the Sick. — Mark i. 32-35. 
Tuesday. — When His Fame Spread. — Luke v. 12-16. 
Wednesday. — Before Appointing Disciples. — Luke vi. 1 2-16. 
Thursday. — When He Fed Five Thousand. — Mark viii. 1-9. 
Friday. — When He Prayed Alone. — Luke ix. 18-27. 
Saturday. — When Transfigured. — Luke ix. 28-36. 



WHAT I WOULD DO. 



If I were a rose 
On the garden wall, 
I'd look so fair, 
And grow so tall ; 
I'd scatter perfume far and wide, 
Of all the flowers be the pride. 
That's what I'd do 
If I were you, 

little rose ! 

If I were a bird, 
With a nest in a tree, 

1 would sing a song 
So glad and free, 

That birds in gilded cages near 



Would pause my wild, sweet notes to hear. 
That's what I'd do 
If I were you, 

gay, wild bird! 

Fair little maid, 
If I were you, 

1 should always try 
To be good and true : 

I'd be the merriest, sweetest child 
On whom the sunshine ever smiled. 

That's what I'd do 

If I were you. 

Dear little maid ! 

—Our Little Ones. 



WHICH WILL YOU TAKE? 



A rose or a thistle, 

A rock or a cake, 
Now answer me quickly. 

Which will you take ? 
Rose and cake, said every voice. 

May you answer as promptly. 

With judgment as clear. 
When asked to decide 

Between water and beer, 
And then be as wise as your choice. 



The one leads to sickness, 

The other to health ; 
The beer leads to ruin. 

Pure water to wealth. 
Yet many the better despise. 

The one costs you nothing, 

The other is dear; 
For God gives the water. 

But man sells the beer. 
O when will man learn to be wise ? 

— Edward Carsweil. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 249 

Dost thou believe on the Son of God? — John ix. 35. 
I want to show you a card which I sometimes ask little children to sign, 
if they can. Here it is : 



Dear Little Friend : 

Can you from your heart answer Yes te the following 
questions ? 

Do you love Jesus ? 

Will you try by the help of Jesus to give up everything 
sinful ? 

Will you try to be more like Jesus every day ? 

Name 

Residence : 



Now, if you can say " Yes" to those questions, just write your name and 
residence in the blank spaces ; in after years, when you have grown up, it 
will be pleasant to look back to. I don't see why the smallest of my readers 
should not love jfesus. A little girl, who had been converted, was asked if 
her heart was changed, and gave this beautiful reply : " Something, I know, 
is changed ; it may be the world, it may be my heart. There is a great 
change somewhere, I'm sure; for everything is different from what it 
once was." 



TWENTIETH VV^EEK. 

PEARL TEXT. — The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my 
rock ; in Him will I trust. — 2 Sam. xxii. 2, 3. 



For us whatever's undergone. 
Thou knowest, wiliest, what is done. 
Grief may be joy misunderstood ; 
Only the good discerns the good. 
I trust Thee while tlie days go on ; 



I praise Thee while my days go on ; 

I love Thee while my days go on ; 

Through dark and dearth, thro' fire and frost, 

With empty arms and treasure lost, 

I thank thee while my days go on. 

— Mrs. Browning. 



Trust not so much to the comforts of God as to the God of comforts. — 
Mason. 

God is a shower to the heart burned up with grief; God is a sun to the 
face deluged with tears. — Selected. 

How kindly has God thwarted me in every instance where I sought to 
enslave myself I will learn at last to glory in disappointments. — McCheyne. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 
SUNDAY. 

It is for You. — Acts ii. 1-2 1. 



1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully 
come, they were all with one accord in one 
place. 

2 And suddenly there came a sound from 
heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it 
filled all the house where they were sitting. 

3 And there appeared unto them cloven 
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of 
them. 

4 And they were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, 
as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem 
Jews, devout men, out of every nation under 
heaven. 

6 Now when this was noised abroad, the 
multitude came together, and were confounded, 
because that every man heard them speak in his 
own language. 

7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, 
saying one to another, Behold, are not all these 
which speak Galileans? 

8 And how hear we every man in our own 
tongue, wherein we were born ? 

9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and 
the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, 
and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 

10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and 

(250) 



in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and stran- 
gers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 

11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them 
speak in our tongues the wonderful works of 
God. 

12 And they were all amazed, and were in 
doubt, saying one to another. What meaneth 
this ? 

13 Others mocking said. These men are full 
of new wine. 

14 \ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, 
lifted up his voice, and said unto them. Ye men 
of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, 
be this known unto you, and hearken to my 
words : 

15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, 
seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 

16 But this is that which was spoken by the 
prophet Joel : 

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall 
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, 
and your old men shall dream dreams : 

18 And on my servants and on my hand- 
maidens I will pour out in those days of my 
Spirit ; and they shall prophesy : 

19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, 



and signs in Ihe earth beneath ; blood, and fire, 
and vapour of smoke : 

20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, 
and the moon into hlood, before that great and 
notable day of the Lord come : 



)AY. 251 

21 And it shall come to pass that whosoever 
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be 

saved. 



"And the)- were all filled with the Holy Ghost." This is the great central 
truth of Pentecost. To be thus " filled " is the privilege of every believer 
(Acts vi. 3; xi. 24). It maybe secured by each just as these disciples 
secured it — by an obedient and prayerful waiting on God for the fulfilment 
of His promise. And the spiritual effects which follow the realization of 
this fulness are, unlike the miraculous, permanent and universal. Something 
of these effects may be seen in the spiritual changes wrought in those by 
whom the Holy Spirit was now received in His fulness. With His reception 
by these disciples there came to them : — i. Spiritual illumination. Like 
fire, the Holy Ghost illuminates. 2. Spiritual purification. Like fire, He 
purifies. 3. Spiritual inspiration. Like fire. He warms and cheers. 

"Three thousand souls in one day ! And yet this was but the inauguration 
of Christianity. This was but the handful of corn on the top of the mountains. 
Pentecost was but an outline of things to come. But the Church has been 
satisfied that the day of Pentecost should be only historical. She has been 
content to regard this second chapter of Acts as a museum of spiritual curi- 
osities. She has looked upon the story of the Spirit's descent very much 
as one looks upon the fossil fragments of a mastodon, — a record of extinct 
life. While the Spirit has been ready to come as ' floods upon the dry 
ground,' she has been satisfied that His influence should be slowly and par- 
tially dealt out, here a little and there a little. Advancement and expansion 
are the statute laws of the Gospel of God. The Christian world has been 
playing at religion. Being a child, it has spoken as a child, understood as 
a child, thought as a child ; but every interest of humanity and every word 
of God calls upon it, in these latter days, to become a man, and to put away 
childish things."— i?. R. Meredith, D. D. 



Closet Promise. — But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, 
and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; 
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. — Matt. vi. 6. 

" Christians often complain that private prayer is not what it should be. 
They feel weak and sinful, the heart is cold and dark ; it is as if they have 
so little to pray for, and in that little no faith or joy. They are discouraged 
and kept from prayer by the thought that they cannot come to the Father 
as they ought or as they wish. Child of God, listen to your Teacher. He 
tells you that when you go to private prayer your first thought must be : 



252 TWENTIETH WEEK. 

the Father is in secret ; the Father waits for me there. Just because your 
heart is cold and prayerless get you into the presence of the loving Father. 
As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth you. Do not be thinking 
of how little you have to bring to God, but of how much He wants to give 
you. Just place yourself before and look up into His face; think of His 
love, His wonderful, tender, pitying love. Just tell Him all ; it is the Father's 
loving heart will give light and warmth to yours. Oh, do what Jesus says : 
just shut the door and pray to thy Father which is in secret. Is it not 
wonderful to go alone with God, the infinite God, and then to look up and 
say, ' My Father ! ' " — Andrew Murray. 

MONDAY. 

White as Snow. — Isa. i. 1-20. 



1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, 
which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem 
in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hez- 
ekiah, kings of Judah. 

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth : 
for the Lord hath spoken ; I have nourished 
and brought up children, and they have rebelled 
against me. 

3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his 
master's crib : btd Israel doth not know, my 
people doth not consider. 

4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with in- 
iquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are 
corrupters : they have forsaken the Lord, they 
have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto 
anger, they are gone away backward. 

5 ^ Why should ye be stricken any more ? ye 
will revolt more and more : the whole head is 
sick, and the whole heart faint. 

6 From the sole of the foot even unto the 
\\e.'^(!i. there is no soundness in it ; but wounds, 
and bruises, and putrifying sores : they have not 
been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified 
with ointment. 

7 Your country is desolate, your cities are 
burned with fire : your land, strangers devour it 
in your presence, and it is desolate, as over- 
thrown by strangers. 

8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cot- 
tage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of 
cucumbers, as a besieged city. 

9 Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us 
a very small remnant, we should have been as 
Sodom, and we should have been like unto Go- 
morrah. 

10 ][ Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers 



of Sodom ; give ear unto the law of our God, 
ye people of Gomorrah. 

1 1 To what purpose is the multitude of your 
sacrifices unto me ? saith the Lord : I am full 
of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of 
fed beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of 
bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 

12 When ye come to appear before me, who 
hath required this at your hand, to tread my 
courts ? 

13 Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is 
an abomination unto me ; the new moons and 
sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot 
away with ; // is iniquity, even the solemn 
meeting. 

14 Your new moons and your appointed 
feasts my soul hateth : they are a trouble unto 
me; I am weary to hss^y them. 

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I 
will hide mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye 
make many prayers, I will not hear; your 
hands are full of blood. 

16 T[ Wash ye, make you clean ; put away 
the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; 
cease to do evil ; 

17 Learn to do well ; seek judgment, relieve 
the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the 
widow. 

18 Come now, and let us reason together, 
saith the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet, 
they shall be as white as snow ; though they be 
red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat 
the good of the land : 

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be de- 
voured with the sword : for the mouth of the 
Lord hath spoken it. 



"White is an emblem of innocence. O^ course sins would be represented 
by the opposite. Hence we speak of crime as black, or deep-dyed, and of 



MONDAY. 



253 



the soul as stained by sin. There is another idea here. This was a fast, or 
fixed color. Neither dew, nor rain, nor washing, nor long usage, would 
remove it. Hence it is used to represent the fixedness, diXxd permanency, of 
sins in the heart. No human means will wash them out. No effort of man, 
no external rites, no tears, no sacrifices, no prayers, are of themselves suffi- 
cient to take them away. They are deepfixed in the heart, as the scarlet 
color was in the web of cloth, and an almighty power is needful to remove 
them, 'Shall be as white as snoiv.' That is, the deep, fixed stain, which no 
human power could remove, shall be taken away. In other words, sin shall 
be pardoned, and the soul be made pure." — Rev. Albert Barnes. 

And what can wash them white — clean from every stain of sin ? The 
Bible answers: "They have washed their robes, and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb." 

Closet Promise. — And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity. — Jer. 
xxxiii. 8, 



Wondrous promise ! O, how precious ! 

'Tis our loving Father's word ; 
Sin shall never have dominion 



Over souls redeemed by blood. 
Full redemption — full salvation 
Through the blessed lamb of God 



TUESDAY. 

Duty of the Strong to the Weak. — Rom. xv. 1-14. 



1 We then that are strong ought to bear the 
infirmities of the weak, and not to please our- 
selves. 

2 Let every one of us please his neighbour 
for his good to edification. 

3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, 
as it is written. The reproaches of them that re- 
proached thee fell on mc. 

4 For whatsoever things were written afore- 
time were written for our learning, that we 
through patience and comfort of the Scriptures 
might have hope. 

5 Now the God of patience and consolation 
grant you to be likeminded one toward another 
according to Christ Jesus : 

6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth 
glorify God, even the father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ 
also received us, to the glory of God. 

8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister 



of the circumcision for the truth of God, to con- 
firm the promises made unto the fathers : 

9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God 
for his mercy; as it is written. For this cause I 
will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and 
sing unto thy name. 

ID And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, 
with his people. 

11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gen- 
tiles ; and laud him, all ye people. 

12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a 
root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign 
over the Gentiles ; in him shall the Gentiles 
trust. 

13 Now the God of hope fill you with all 
joy and peace in relieving, that ye may abound 
in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. 

14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, 
my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, 
filled with all knowledge, able also to admoni.sh 
one another. 



"All human trouble ought to roll itself on to the broadest shoulders, and 
not to rest on the weak and feeble shoulders. If there is to be any patience, 
it is to be on the part of men that are the best men. If there is to be any 
forbearance, it is to be on the part of those men who are the most deserving. 



254 



TWENTIETH WEEK. 



and not the least deserving. Rich men are to bear the infirmities of the 
poor. Wise men are to bear the mistakes of the ignorant. Strong men 
are to bear with the feeble. . . . You say that it is against nature. Very- 
likely, but it is not against grace. He that will be first must be the servant." 
—H. W. Beecher. 

" Christ bore the guilt of sin, and the curse for it ; we are only called to 
bear a little of the trouble of it. He bore the presumptuous sins of the 
wicked; we are called only to bear the infirmities of the weak." — Henry. 

It is as if a strong swimmer should turn back and lend a helping hand to 
buoy up and lift across the flood one that was weaker or less able to swim 
than himself We have no right to disregard, much less to hinder, the wel- 
fare of any human being. 

Closet Promise. — Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called 
the children of God. — Matt. v. 9. 

" O God, who art Peace everlasting, whose chosen reward is the gift of 
peace, and who hast taught us that the peacemakers are Thy children, pour 
Thy sweet peace into our souls, that everything discordant may utterly van- 
ish, and all that makes for peace be sweet to us forever. Amen." — Gela- 
sian, A. D. 492. 



WEDNESDAY. 

Protection from the Wicked. — Psalm Ixiv. 



1 Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer : pre- 
serve my life from fear of the enemy. 

2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the 
wicked ; from the insurrection of the workers 
of iniquity : 

3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and 
bend theh- bows to shoot their arrows, e->en bit- 
ter words : 

4 That they may shoot in secret at ihe perfect : 
suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. 

5 They encourage themselves in an evil mat- 
ter : they commune of laying snares privily; 
they say, Who shall see them ? 

6 They search out iniquities ; they accom- 



plish a diligent search : both the inward 
thought of every one of them, and the heart, is 
deep. 

7 But God shall shoot at them with an ar- 
row ; suddenly shall they be wounded. 

8 So they shall make their own tongue to 
fall upon themselves : all that see them shall 
flee away. 

9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare 
the work of God; for they shall wisely con- 
sider of his doing. 

10 The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, 
and shall trust in him ; and all the upright in 
heart shall glory. 



This Psalin is ascribed to David, without any indication of its occasion. 
" His life was one of conflict, and very seldom does he finish a Psalm with- 
out mentioning his enemies ; in this instance his thoughts are wholly occu- 
pied with prayer against them." 

From verses i to 6 he describes the cruelty and craftiness of his foes, and 
from 7 to 10 he prophesies their overthrow. 

The whole Psalm is " a cry of God's elect, when persecuted for righteous- 



WEDNESDAY. 



255 



ness' sake, to their Deliverer and sure Avenger. The general principle 
stated is very clear. The Psalm will adjust itself, as an experimental utter- 
ance, to the lips of Christian faith whenever brought into contact with the 
evil forces of the prince of this world, so as to suffer affliction for the gos- 
pel's sake; for it expresses the condition and the hope of one actually im- 
perilled for the truth. How aptly a portion of this Psalm applies to the 
suffering Truth Himself in the days of His affliction, when, pierced in His 
spirit by lying words, He endured the contradiction of sinners against Him- 
self, needs not be pointed out." — Arthur Pridham, 

Closet Promise. — The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them 
that fear Him, and delivereth them. — Psalm xxxiv. 7. 

The chariots of fire and horses of fire. Christians, are round about us still. 
Though by us unseen, they still exist. For it is as true of us as of David, 
when we battle for the truth, that the angel of the Lord encamps round 
about us to deliver. We know who it was that said, " Lo, I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world." In the faith of His presence, go forth 
anew, conscious that as you fight this holy fight you will overcome at last. 
— William M. Taylor, D. D. 



THURSDAY. 

The Good Resolution. — Dan. 



1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim 
king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of 
Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. 

2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Ju- 
dah into his hand, with part of the vessels of 
the house of God, which he carried into the 
land of Shinar to the house of his god ; and he 
brought the vessels into the treasure-house of 
his god. 

3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the 
master of his eunuclis, that he should bring 
certain of the children of Israel, and of the 
king's seed, and of the princes; 

4 Children in whom -was no blemish, but 
well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and 
cunning in knowledge, and understanding 
science, and such as had ability in them to 
stand in the king's palace, and whom they 
might teach the learning and the tongue of the 
Chaldeans. 

5 And the king appointed them a daily pro- 
vision of the king's meat, and of the wine 
which he drank : so nourishing them three 
years, that at the end thereof they might stand 
before the king. 

6 Now among these were of the children of 
Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Aza- 
riah: 



7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave 
names : for he gave unto Daniel the name of 
Belteshazzar ; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach ; 
and to Mishael, of Meshach ; and to Azariah, 
of Abed-nego. 

8 But Daniel purposed in his lieart that he 
would not defile himself with the portion of 
the king's meat, nor with the wine which he 
drank : therefore he requested of the prince of 
the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 

9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour 
and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 

10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto 
Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath ap- 
pointed your meat and your drink : for why 
should he see your faces worse liking than the 
children which are of your sort ? then shall ye 
make me endanger my head to the king. 

11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the 
prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, 
Hananinh, Mishael, and Azariah, 

12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten 
days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and 
water to drink. 

13 Then let our countenances be looked upon 
before thee, and the countenance of the chil- 
dren that eat of the portion of the king's meat : 
and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 



256 TWENTIETH WEEK. 

14 So he consented to them in this matter, ; had said he should bring them in, then the 
and proved them ten days. ■ prince of the eunuchs brought them in before 

15 And at the end of ten days their coun- Nebuchadnezzar. 



tenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh ihan 
all the children which did eat the portion of the 
king's meat. 

16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of 
their meat, and the wine that they should drink ; 
and galve them pulse. 

17 As for these four children, God gave them 
knowledge and skill in all learning and wis- 
dom : and Daniel had understanding in all 
visions and dreams. 

1 8 Now at the end of the days that the king 



19 And the king communed with them ; and 
among them all was found none like Daniel, 
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah : therefore 
stood they before the king. 

20 And in all matters of wisdom and under- 
standing, that the king inquired of them, he 
found them ten times better than all the ma- 
gicians and astrologers that were in all his 
realm. 

21 And Daniel continued even unto the first 
year of King Cyrus. 



" Duty, like God, is the same everywhere." The act of these boys is an 
admirable refutation and rebuke of the feeling that often is felt and ex- 
pressed by both men and boys : " I can't live as a Christian here." If one 
can't live as a Christian " here," wherever that may be, he cannot do it any- 
where. The religion that will give way to the world, instead of making the 
world give way to it, isn't worth much. Many grown men, in all proba- 
bility, had given up their Hebrew worship on account of just that sort of 
feeling. Four boys taught them they could live true to Jehovah even 
in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. And the secret of their fidelity in the 
midst of such unusually seductive temptations was that one of them " pur- 
posed in his heart that he would not defile himself" What if Daniel had 
thought,"! am only a boy^ it is the business of those who are older to 
take the initiative in this thing." Let the boys who think that it would be 
hard for them to live a Christian life in their circumstances answer. 

The Rev. Perley B, Davis uses the habits of the ermine in beautiful il- 
lustration here : " Its fur is snow-white, and, so sensitive is it to defilement 
of any kind, that its hunters, it is said, trap it by driving It into a circle of 
mud which they have laid for the purpose. Through that it will not go. It 
would rather be caught and killed than sully its perfect purity ! If Chris- 
tians feared death less than dishonor, the church would cease to be re- 
proached by the world." 

Closet Promise. — He will not suffer thy foot to be moved : He that 
keepeth thee will not slumber. — Psalm cxxi. 3. 



' Leave God to order all thy ways. 
And hope in Him whate'er betide, 

Thou'lt find Him in the evil days 
Thy all-sufficient strength and guide ; 

Trust His rich promises of grace, 



So shall they be fulfill'd in thee : 
God never yet forsook at need 
The soul that trusted Him indeed. 
Who trusts in God's unchanging love. 
Builds on the rock that naught can move.' 



TWENTIETH WEEK. 



257 



FRIDAY. 

TjiK Willing Service of the Heart.— Ephes. vi. 1-20. 



1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord : 
for this is right. 

2 Honour thy father and mother ; which is 
the hrst commandment with promise; 

3 That it may be well with thee, and thou 
mayest live long on the earth. 

4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children 
to wrath : bui bring them up in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord. 

5 Serxauib, be obedient to them that are _j'o?<r 
masters according to the flesh, with fear and 
trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto 
Christ; 

6 Not with eye service, as men pleasers ; but 
as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God 
from the heart ; 

7 With good will doing service, as to the 
Lord, and not to men : 

8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any 
man doeth, the same shall he receive of the 
Lord, whether he he bond or free. 

9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto 
ihem, forbearing threatening: knowing that 
your IVIaster also is in heaven ; neither is there 
respect of persons with him. 

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the 
Lord, and in the power of his might. 

11 I'lit on the whole armour of God, that ye 



may be able to stand against the wiles of the 
devil. 

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 
but against principalities, against powers, against 
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
spiritual wickednes., in high places. 

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole ar- 
mour of God, that ye may be able to withstand 
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt 
about with truth, and having on the breastplate 
of righteousness; 

15 And your feet shod with the preparation 
of the gospel of peace ; 

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, 
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all th^^ 
tier)' darts of the wicked. 

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the 
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God : 

18 Praying always with all prayer and suppli- 
cation in the Spirit, and watching thereunto 
with all perseverance and supplication for all 
saints ; 

19 And for me, that utterance may be given 
unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to 
make known the mystery of the gospel, 

20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds ; 
that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to 
speak. 



Among the many valuable lessons in this chapter, none is more valuable 
than the one on the manner in which we should discharge our duties to our 
fellow-men. "Not with eye-serviced This exhortation is equally applicable 
to those who are served, as truly as to those who serve. For immediately 
after addressing himself to " servants," Paul said (ver. 9), "And ye masters, 
do the same things unto them." Paul had " the same " rule for masters and 
for servants. " ' Eye-service ' is either service done only to please the eye, 
but which cannot bear to be tested ; or it is good and real service, but only 
given when the eye of a master sees it. ' Not with eye-service ' is happily 
associated with that other word ' not as men-pleasers.' For ' eye-servants ' 
care only to ' please men.' " — W. Graiit. 

" Notice well that the Holy Spirit does not bid us leave our stations in or- 
der to serve the Lord. Our Great Captain would not have you hope to win 
the victory by leaving your post. Grace does not transplant the tree, but 
bids it overshadow the old house at home as before, and bring forth good 
fruit where it is. Grace does not make us unearthh', though it makes us 
unworldly. Grace makes us the servants of God while still we are the ser- 
15 



258 



TWENTIETH WEEK. 



vants of men ; it enables us to do the business of heaven while we are at- 
tending to the business of earth." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear 
Him, upon them that hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death. — 
Psalm xxxiii. i8, 19. 



" Thy hand in His, like fondest, happiest child. 
Place thou, nor draw it for a moment thence ; 

Walk thou with Him, a Father reconciled. 
Till in His own good time He calls thee 
hence. 



Walk with Him now, so shall thy way be bright, 
And all thy soul be filled with His most glorious 
light." 



SATURDAY. 

Bitter Weeping. — Matt. xxvi. 57-75. 



57 \ And they that had laid hold on Jesus led 
him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the 
scribes and the elders were assembled. 

58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the 
high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with 
the servants, to see the end. 

59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all 
the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to 
put him to death ; 

60 But found none: yea, though many false 
witnesses came, yet found they none. At the 
last came two false witnesses, 

6 1 And said, This fellow said, I am able to 
destroy the temple of God, and to build it in 
three days. 

62 And the high priest arose, and said unto 
him, Answerest thou nothing ? what is it which 
these witness against thee ? 

63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high 
priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee 
by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou 
be the Christ, the Son of God. 

64 Jesus saith unto him. Thou hast said : 
nevertheless I say unto you. Hereafter shall ye 
see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of 
power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 

65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, say- 
ing. He hath spoken blasphemy ; what further 
need have we of witnesses ? behold, now ye 
have heard his blasphemy. 



66 What think ye? They answered and 
said, He is guilty of death. 

67 Then did they spit in his face, and buf- 
feted him ; and others smote him with the 
palms of their hands, 

68 Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, 
Who is he that smote thee ? 

69 Tl Now Peter sat without in the palace : 
and a damsel came unto him, saying. Thou also 
wast with Jesus of Galilee. 

70 But he denied before thern all, saying, I 
know not what thou sayest. 

71 And when he was gone out into the porch, 
another maid saw him, and said unto them that 
were there. This fellow was also with Jesus of 
Nazareth. 

72 And again he denied with an oath, I do 
not know the man. 

73 And after a while came unto him they that 
stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art 
one of them ; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. 

74 Then began he to curse and to swear, 
saying, I know not the man. And immediately 
the cock crew. 

75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, 
which said unto him. Before the cock crow, 
thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, 
and wept bitterly. 



There was a gradual descent in the fall of the apostle Peter. He was 
first alarmed, and consulted his safety by flight ; then he followed Jesus, but 
afar off; then he entered into the palace ; then he sat down among the ser- 
vants ; then he listened without rebuke to their scoffs against Jesus ; then he 
denied that he was a disciple ; then he denied with oaths and curses. 

" There was really no excuse for Peter's sin. He was in no personal dan- 
ger. All he had to fear was a momentary contempt from servants and 



SATURDAY. 259 

soldiers. Yet the paltry desire of standing well in the estimation of those 
who happened to be about him, menials as they were, caused him to prove 
false to his Lord. Miserable man ! It makes us blush to think of him ; so 
brave in meeting swords and clubs, so cowardly in meeting sneers." — R. D. 
Hitchcock, D. D. 

Peter's repentance teaches us a most practical lesson. He is not merely 
the assurance to us of the possibility of a perfect restoration after falling 
from God ; he is also the model of all true penitents. The first main ele- 
ment of St. Peter's recovery was a spirit of self-accusation, a ready acknowl- 
edgment of sin and error. Here, then, is one essential element of true re- 
pentance — self-accusation at the feet of Jesus. And how needful a lesson to 
learn well. The saddest part of our sin is, that we are so slow to confess it. 

" It might not be quite right, theologically, to thank God for Peter's sin. 
But since he did sin, we certainly ought to be very thankful for the record 
of it. Had Judas alone offended, afterwards perishing by his own hands, 
and sinking to his own place, Christians, once sinning, might well grow 
desperate. Had Peter stood, as John did, unshaken and unsullied, our hard 
struggle with manifold infirmities would be far harder than it is. But now 
we have a sinning Peter before us ; an apostle grievously sinning, but 
grandly recovered. And while we blush to look upon him, there is com- 
fort in the sight. Be encouraged, my feeble, imperfect, wavering brother, 
not indeed to sin, nor yet to think lightly of sin ; but, if you liave sinned, to 
go and sin no more. Remorse belongs to Judas. Penitence to Peter. 
Penitence and a better life."— i?. D. Hitchcock, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord ; and 
I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you : for I am merciful, saith the 
Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. — Jer. iii. 12. 

" It may be too late, quite too late, to set right mischief once done, to 
avert consequences, to stop the working of the evil that we have set in mo- 
tion. But it is not too late, it is never too late, to come back to God. If 
you can't be what you might have been, you can still be something that 
Christ will love and value — an humble, penitent soul. If you cannot serve 
God as you might have done — nay, if you have done harm that you can 
never undo — yet you can still give Him what He values more than all ser- 
vice — a will surrendered to His will. If it is too late for everything else, 
it is never too late to join the service of Christ." 



260 TWENTIETH WEEK. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Whosoever will, let him take the water of life 
freely. — Rev. xxii. 17. 

Weekly Proverb.—" Sour grapes," said the fox, when he could not 
reach them. — English. 

•DAl-LY BIBLE READING.— CHRIST'S MIGHTY DEEDS. 

Sunday. — The Wedding at Cana. — John ii. i-ii. 
Monday. — The Nobleman's Son. — John iv. 43-54. 
Tuesday. — The Widow's Son. — Luke vii. 11-17. 
Wednesday. — The Ten Lepers. — Luke xvii. 11-19. 
Thursday. — The Changed Demoniac. — Mark i. 14-28. 
Friday. — The Healing of a Paralytic. — Mark ii. 1-12. 
Saturday. — The Centurion's Servant. — Luke vii. i-io. 

DO YOU LOVE HIM TRULY .> 



Oh, children, do you love 

The Saviour dear ? 
Then trust in Him always — 

Be of good cheer ! 

Cast all your care on Him, 
Who cares for you ; 



He'll guide you to the end. 
And love you, too. 

Serve Him with all your heart 

And have no fear ; 
Wherever you may go, 

Jesus is near. . — S 



Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. — 
Prov. iv. 23. 

Dear little friends, the wise man tells us here of something, worth more 
than anything else, that you are to keep — the heart. Who is to keep it ? 
You are. Not papa or mamma. They cannot do it for you. Your doll or 
your ball you can give to some one else to keep for you. It is safe, and 
you can have it just when you want it. But your heart — you must keep. 
Hoiv? Well, how do you keep your doll ? Do you throw it into the mud ? 
Or your ball ? Do you throw it into the fire ? No ; you take care of it. 
Just so you are to keep your heart. You must use more care in keeping it 
than in keeping your money, your playthings or anything else of which 
you think the most. You must not take it where it does not belong. You 
can hurt and spoil it, just as you can your book or doll by the fire or the 
mud, by taking it where it ought not to be. Keep your heart by keeping 
out all bad thoughts, bad words, or bad feelings. Don't use indecent lan- 
guage ; don't read those books, or look at those pictures, that contain any- 
thing impure in them. Above all, you can keep your heart best by giving 
it to Jesus to keep for you. 





THE LESSON OE IHE PASSOVER. 
262 



THE LESSON OF THE PASSOVER. 

God sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians. The tenth and last was 
the worst. God's holy angel passed over the whole land of Egypt one 
night and slew the eldest son in every house of the Egyptians. He passed 
over the houses of the Israelites and spared their babies. And why ? Be- 
cause they did what God commanded them to do. Each family took a 
lamb, and killed it, and some of its blood was sprinkled upon the door- 
posts of the house. Where that mark was the angel passed over and did 
no one any hurt. This was called the Passover, because the angel passed 
over the houses where the blood was marked over the door. 

God commanded the Israelites to keep the feast of the passover ever after. 
He told them that, when their children should say, " What mean ye by this 
service ? " they were to answer, " It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, 
who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he 
smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." And here, in the picture, 
we see the family gathered around the passover lamb and the father teaching 
the children the reason why this feast was celebrated. 

Now the Lord Jesus Christ is our passover lamb. He was slain as the 
paschal lamb was, and His blood was shed upon the cross. Why ? To 
save our souls. The lamb of the Israelites saved their bodies from death. 
The Lamb of God saves our souls from sin. The blood of the lamb in 
Egypt was sprinkled upon the doors ; the blood of Jesus must be sprinkled 
upon our hearts. The destroying angel saw the blood and passed over the 
houses, and when God sees the blood of Jesus upon us He forgives and 
saves us from sin. 

(263) 



TV\AENTY-FIRST W^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — For the love of Christ constraineth us. — 2 Cor: v. 14. 



O love surpassing thought, 
So bright, so grand, so clear, so true, 
glorious ; 
Love infinite, love tender, love unsought. 



Love changeless, love rejoicing, love vic- 
torious ! 

And this great love for us in boundless store ; 

Christ's everlasting love ! What wouldst thou 
more ? — F. R. Havergal. 



The people of Christ are not merit-mongers. Love to the Captain of 
their salvation ranks them under his banner. They are not like the 'Swiss, 
who fight for pay. — Rutherford. 

The colored sunsets and the starry heavens, the beautiful mountains and 
the shining seas, the fragrant woods and the painted flowers, are not half so 
beautiful as a soul that is serving Jesus out of love, in the wear and tear of 
common, unpoetic life. — Faber. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Friend of the Poor. — Psalm xli. 



1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor : 
the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. 

2 The Lord will preserve him, and keep 
him alive ; and he shall be blessed upon the 
earth : and thou wilt not deliver him unto the 
will of his enemies. 

3 The Lord will strengthen him upon the 
bed of languishing : thou wilt make all his bed 
in his sickness. 

4 I said, Lord, be merciful unto me : heal 
my soul ; for I have sinned against thee. 

5 Mine enemies speak evil of me. When 
shall he die, and his name perish ? 

6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh 
vanity : his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; 
-vhen he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 

7 All that hate me whisper together against 
me : against me do they devise my hurt. 



8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto 
him : and now that he lieth he shall rise up no 
more. 

9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I 
trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted 
up his heel against me. 

10 But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, 
and raise me up, that I may requite them. 

1 1 By this I know that thou favourest me, be- 
cause mine enemy doth not triumph over me. 

12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in 
mine integrity, and settest me before thy face 
for ever. 

13 Blessed i5^ the Lord God of Israel from 
everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and 
Amen. 



The lesson for to-day describes the mercies which are promised to such 
as consider the poor : i. Deliverance in trouble. Not that he shall have no 
trouble; but he shall be preserved in it. 2. Preservation of life. "It is 
worthy of remark that benevolent persons, who 'consider the poor,' and es- 
pecially the sick poor ; who search cellars, garrets, back lanes, and such 
abodes of misery, to find them out (even in the places where contagion 
keeps its seat), very seldom fall a prey to their own benevolence, 
(264) 



SUNDAY. 265 

The Lord, in an especial manner, keeps them alive, and preserves them ; while 
many, who endeavor to keep far from the contagion, are assailed by it and 
fall victims to it. God loves the merciful man." — Adam Clarke. 3. Pros- 
perity promised. "His cruse of oil shall not be dried up, because he fed the 
poor prophet." 4. A heavenly bed-making. " Surely that bed must needs 
be soft which God will make." — T. Watson. Note, it is all his bed. " Pil- 
low, bolster, head, feet, sides, all his bed. Surely that God who made him 
knows so well his measure and temper as to make his bed to please him." 
— Thomas Fuller. 

There is another lesson in this Psalm which must not be overlooked. 
" Such as receive a vile return for long kindness to others may read this 
song with much comfort, for they will see that it is, alas, too common for 
the best of men to be rewarded for their holy charity with cruelty and scorn ; 
and when they have been humbled by falling into sin advantage has been 
taken of their low estate, their good deeds have been forgotten, and the 
vilest spite has been vented upon them." — C. H. Spiirgcon. 

Closet Promise, — When the poor and needy seek water, and there is 
none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the 
God of Israel will not forsake them. — Isa. xli. 17. 

Let us never suppose that God cares only for the soul, and not also for 
the body ; that the temporal needs of His redeemed people are a matter of 
indifference to Him ; that the maintenance of a laboring-man can be beneath 
His notice who sent His own Son to work as a carpenter; or that a little 
child's happiness is uncared for by that Eternal Father who has looked on 
this Christ as a helpless infant slumbering in a human mother's arms. God 
cares for everything that can affect His people. — Rev. A. W. Thorold. 

MONDAY. 

The Final Test.— Matt. x. 32-42. 

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me | 37 He that loveth father or mother more than 
before men, him will I confess also before my - me is not worthy of me : and he that loveth son 
Father which is in heaven. i or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, | 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and fol-" 
him will I also deny before my Father which is , loweth after me, is not worthy of me. 
in heaven. I 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and 



34 Think not that I am come to send peace 
on earth : I came not to send peace, but a 
sword. 

35 For I am come to set a man at variance 
against his father, and the daughter against her 
mother, and the daughter in law against her 
mother in law. 

36 And a man's foes s^iall he they of his own 
household. 



he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. 

40 ^ He that receiveth you receiveth me ; 
and he that receiveth me receiveth him that 
sent me. 

41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name 
of a prophet shall receive a prophet's revi^ard ; 
and he that receiveth a righteous man in the 
name of a righteous man shall receive a right- 
eous man's reward. 



266 



TWENTY-FIRST WEEK. 



42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto I in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, 
one of these little ones a cup of cold water only | he shall in no vi^ise lose his reward. 

Here is the test : Relieving or not the distressed. But mark the considera- 
tion of the Saviour: He has so brought down this exhibition of charity that 
it is within the reach of all — "a cup of cold water." The judgment will go 
according to our serviceableness or otherwise. 

" Many are the legends concerning the Quest of the Holy Grail, the tra- 
ditional Cup of Healing from which the Saviour drank the sacramental wine 
the night He was betrayed. But the prettiest of them all, prettiest because 
truest, is that which represents a bold knight of the Round Table travelling 
far over mountains and through deserts in search of the mysterious Grail. 
His protracted and exhaustive journeys, however, turned out fruitless. At 
length, wan in countenance, depressed in spirit, and fatigued in body, he 
resolved to return to Arthur's Hall, a sadder, but not a wiser man. How- 
ever, as he was nearing the gate of Camelot, he saw a poor man writhing in 
the ditch, evidently in the last agonies of death. Moved with compassion, 
the sworn defender of the rights of the poor and the weak dismounted from 
his steed, sought a cup of water, and handed it to the suffering man ; when 
lo! the cup glowed as if it were a thing alive, flamed as if it were the sap- 
phire of the New Jerusalem. The knight at last saw the Holy Grail, not, 
however, in traversing barren wildernesses or performing deeds of prowess, 
but in succoring the poor and forlorn. * Inasmuch as ye have done it to one 
of these little ones, ye. have done it unto Me.' ' Whosoever shall give to 
drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a 
disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.' A little gift to 
a little one — it will be honorably mentioned in the judgment day." — jf. C. 
Jones. 

We are apt to imagine that true religion consists in extraordinary frames 
of mind, ecstatic moods. It consists in nothing of the kind, but in the faith- 
ful discharge, in the spirit of Christ, of the human duties of our every-day 
existence. 

Closet Promise. — Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little 
ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto 
you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. — Matt. x. 42. 



" Dare I ask one gift more ? It shall be this : 

May every soul that touches mine, 

Be it the slightest contact, get therefrom some 

good, 
Some little grace ; one kindly thought, 
One aspiration yet unfelt, one bit of courage 



For the darkening sky ; one gleam of faith to 
brave the thickening ills of life; 

One glimpse of brighter skies beyond the gath- 
ering mists, 

To make this life worth while, and heaven a 
surer heritage. 



MONDAY. 



267 



May the assurance that this heavenly gift 
Has been vouchsafed me be within my heart 
When the last hour comes ! 
Then shall I know 



Thy Spirit hath been with Thy erring child, 
And Thou wilt take the soul that Thou hast 

saved 
To be with Thee. Amen." 



TUESDAY. 

A Glorious Heritage. — Isa. liv. 4-17. 



4 Fear not ; for thou shalt not be ashamed : 
neither be thou confounded ; for thou shalt not 
be put to shame : for thou shalt forget the shame 
of thy youth, and shalt not remember the re- 
proach of thy widowhood any more. 

5 For thy Maker is thine husband; The 
Lord of hosts is his name ; and thy Redeemer 
the Holy One of Israel ; The God of the whole 
earth shall he be called. 

6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman 
forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of 
youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 

7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee ; 
but with great mercies will I gather thee. 

8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee 
for a moment; but with everlasting kindness 
will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy 
Redeemer. 

9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me ; 
for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah 
should no more go over the earth ; so have I 
sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor 
rebuke thee. 

10 For the mountains shall depart, and the 
. hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not 

depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of 
my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath 
mercy on thee. 



11 ^ O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, 
aftii not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones 
with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with 
sapphires. 

12 And I will make thy windows of agates, 
and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders 
of pleasant stones. 

13 And all thy children shall be taught of 
the L(ird ; and great shall be the peace of thy 
children. 

14 In righteousness shalt thou be established : 
thou shalt be far from oppression ; for thou shalt 
not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come 
near thee. 

15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, 
but not by me : whosoever shall gather together 
against thee shall fall for thy sake. 

16 Behold, I have created the smith that 
bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth 
forth an instrument for his work ; and I have 
created the waster to destroy. 

17 ^ No weapon that is formed against thee 
shall prosper; and every tongue i'/z^z/ shall rise 
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. 
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, 
and their righteousness is of me, saith the 
Lord. 



The Church, consisting of all true believers, is " the bride, the Lamb's 
wife." Her Redeemer is said to be her husband. These four names are 
given to Him : " Thy Maker, the Lord of hosts, the Holy One of Israel, the 
God of the whole earth." 

" The sincerity of God's affection to His people appears in the unmovable- 
ness of His love. As there is no shadow of turning in the being of God, so 
not in the love of God to His people ; there is no vertical point ; His love 
stands still like the sun in Gibeah ; it goes not down nor declines, but con- 
tinues in its full strength. With everlasting kindness ivill I have mercy on 
tliee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. Sorry man repents of his love ; the hot- 
test affection cools in his bosom ; love in the creature is like fire on the 
hearth, now blazing, anon blinking and going out; but in God, like fire in 
the element, that never fails." — Gurnall. 

Verses 11 and 12 are beautiful and full of comfort for God's people. The 
lattice work of Oriental windows is sometimes exceedingly rich ; rarest 



268 



TWENTY-FIRST WEEK. 



woods exquisitely carved or inlaid with pearl ; bronze delicately wrought ; 
cross strips of alabaster or a net-work cut from porphyry. But the imagina- 
tion of the prophet, foreseeing the blessing of the patient and faithful, out- 
runs any reality he ever saw. He says their joy shall be as if they looked 
out through bars of cut agate or net-works of strung rubies. But even such 
a window would be forgotten in the magnificent vision the trusting soul 
shall see through it, when the glory of God's full promise has unrolled its 
panorama of pleasures forevermore. 

Closet Promise. — The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; 
but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of 
My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. — Isa. liv. lO. 

Miss Havergal has said : " Every year, I might almost say every day, that 
I live, I seem to see more clearly how all the rest and gladness and power 
of our Christian life hinges on one thing, and that is, taking God at His 
word, believing that He really means exactly what He says, and accepting 
the very words in which He reveals His goodness and grace, without sub- 
stituting others or altering the precise moods and tenses which He has seen 
fit to use." 

WEDNESDAY. 

Vanity of Pleasure. — Eccles. ii. i-ii. 



1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will 
prove thee with mirth ; therefore enjoy pleas- 
ure : and, behold, this also is vanity. 

2 I said of laughter, It is mad : and of mirth. 
What doeth it ? 

3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto 
wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom ; 
and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what 
was that good for the sons of men, which they 
should do under the heaven all the days of their 
life. 

4 I made me great works; I builded me 
houses ; I planted me vineyards : 

5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I 
planted trees in them of all kind of hmti : 

6 I made me pools of water, to water there- 
with the wood that bringeth forth trees : 

7 I got >ne servants and maidens, and had 
servants born in my house ; also I had great 



possessions of great and small cattle above all 
that were in Jerusalem before me : 

8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the 
peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces : 
I gat me men singers and women singers, and 
the delights of the sons of men, as musical in- 
struments, and that of all sorts. 

9 So I was great, and increased more than 
all that were before me in Jerusalem : also my 
wisdom remained with me. 

10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept 
not from them, I withheld not my heart from 
any joy ; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: 
and this was my portion of all my labour. 

1 1 Then I looked on all the works that my 
hands had wrought, and on the labour that I 
had laboured to do; and, behold, all was van- 
ity and vexation of spirit, and there was no 
profit under the sun. 



The world is like sharp sauce, which doth not fill, but provokes the stomach 
to call for more. The voice of those guests whom it makes most welcome 
is like the daughters of the horseleech, " Give, give;" but the infinite God, 
like solid food, doth satisfy the soul fully and caCseth it to cry out, " I have 
enough." " Men that are in the valley think, if they were at the top of such 



WEDNESDAY. 



269 



a hill, they could touch the heavens. Men that are in the bottom of poverty, 
or disgrace, or pain, think, if they could get up to such a mountain, such a 
measure of riches, and honors, and delights, they could reach happiness. 
Now Solomon had got to the top of this hill, and seeing so many scrambling 
and laboring so hard, nay, riding on one another's necks, and pressing one 
another to death to get foremost, doth seem thus to bespeak them : ' Sirs, \'e 
are all deceived in your expectations ; I see the pains ye take to get up to 
this place, thinking, that when ye come hither, ye shall touch the heavens, 
and reach happiness ; but I am before you at the top of the hill — I have 
treasures, and honors, and pleasures in variety and abundance (Eccles. ii. 
II, 12), and I find the hill full of quagmires instead of delights, and so far 
from giving me satisfaction, that it causeth much vexation ; therefore be 
Aadvised to spare your pains, and spend your strength for that which will 
turn to more profit ; for, believe it, you do but work at the labor in vain.' " 
— S'win7iock. 

Closet Promise. — All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto 
such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. — Psalm xxv. 10. 

Poor human wisdom is often baffled in the paths it marks out for itself 
The hand of God hedges up the way, and we turn aside, and wonder. Let 
us try simply to trust our Father, and walk in the way of His commandment; 
then shall we never go astray. 



What cheering words are these, 

Their sweetness who can tell ? 
In time and to eternal days, 



'Tis with the righteous well ! 
'Tis well with them while life endures, 
And well when called to die." 



THURSDAY. 

Co-workers with God. — i Cor. iii. 1-15. 



1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you 
as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as 
unto babes in Christ. 

2 I have fed you with milk, and not with 
meat : for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, 
neither yet now are ye able. 

3 For ye are yet carnal : for whereas there is 
among you envying, and strife, and divisions, 
are ye not carnal, and walk as men ? 

4 For while one saith, I am of Paul ; and 
another, I am of Apollos ; are ye not carnal ? 

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but 
ministers by whom ye believed, even as the 
Lord gave to every man ? 

6 I have planted, Apollos watered ; but God 
gave the increase. 

7 So then neither is he that planteth any- 



thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that 
giveth the increase. 

8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth 
are one ; and every man shall receive his own 
reward according to his own labour. 

9 For we are labourers together with God : 
ye are God's husbandry,;)'^ are God's building. 

10 According to the grace of God which is 
given unto me, as a wise masterbuUder, I have 
laid the foundation, and another buildeth there- 
on. But let every man take heed how he build- 
eth thereupon. 

1 1 For other foundation can no man Iny than 
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

12 Now if any man build upon this founda- 
tion gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, 
stubble ; 



270 



TWENTY-FIRST WEKK. 



13 Every man's work shall be made manifest : 
for the day shall declare it, because it shall be 
revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every 
man's work of what sort it is. 



14 If any man's work abide which he hath 
built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 

15 If any man's work shall be burned, he 
shall sulfer loss ; but he himself shall be saved ; 
yet so as by fire. 



" ' Ye are God's husbandry.' For you He thinks. For you He tills. He 
is breaking-in your disposition. He is preparing the soil of your hearts. 
He is cultivating you now by ways that make you cry out with pain — for 

all plowing and harrowing is painful Let your bosom lie open to 

His influence as the soil lies open to the sun. Let God do as seemeth Him 
good; and by-and-by, with all your faculties, with every feeling of your na- 
ture, you shall, in the great harvest, bless God."—//". W. Beecher. 

We are all of us architects, or, rather, we are laborers together with God 
as the great Architect. We are building up the soul into character. Like 
Solomon's Temple, it goes up without sound of hammer or toil. No solid 
granite, no glistening marble, but thoughts, feelings, purposes, are its mate- 
rials. " Out of these thin and evanescent things we are building a structure 
that shall outlive the mountains, the globe, and time itself Day by day 
the courses go up, tier upon tier, story above story." Oh that we could 
stand afar off and see what we build ! But no, the soul is built in silence ; 
invisible, it yet abides like adamant. 



Closet Promise. — For all things are yours ; whether Paul, or ApoUos, 
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to 
come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. — I Cor. iii. 
21-23. 



In having all things and not Thee, what have I ? 

Not having Thee, what have my labors got ? 
Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave I ? 

And, having Thee alone, what have I not ? 



I wish not sea nor land, nor would I be 
Possessed of heaven, heaven unpossessed of 
Thee." 



FRIDAY. 

David's Psalm of Praise." — Psalm cxlv. 



1 I will extol thee, my God, O King ; and I 
will bless thy name for ever and ever. 

2 Every day will I bless thee ; and I will 
praise thy name for ever and ever. 

3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be 
praised ; and his greatness is unsearchable. 

4 One generation shall praise thy works to 
another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. 

5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy 
majesty, and of thy wondrous works. 

6 And men shall speak of the might of thy 
terrible acts ; and I will declare thy greatness. 



7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of 
thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy right- 
eousness. 

8 The Lord is gracious, and full of compas- 
sion ; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 

9 The Lord is good to all : and his tender 
mercies are over all his works. 

10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LoRD ; 
and thy saints shall bless thee. 

11 They shall speak of the glory of thy king- 
dom, and talk of thy power ; 

12 To make known to the sons of men his 




THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. 

God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and 

in truth. ^^/^« iv. 24. 

271 



FRIDAY. 273 

mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of liis 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways, 

kingdom. I and holy in all his works. 



13 Thy kingdom is an everiasting kingdom, 
and thy dominion cndureih throughout all gen- 
erations. 

14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and 
raiseth up all those that be bowed down. 

15 The eyes ol all wait upon thee ; and thou 
givest them their meat in due season. 

16 Thou opene^t thine hand, and satisfiest the 
desire of every living thing. 



18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call 
upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. 

19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear 
him : he also will hear their ciy, and will save 
them. 

20 The Lord p'reserveth all them that love 
him : but all the wicked will he destroy. 

21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the 
Lord : and let all flesh bless his holy name for 
ever and ever. 



This Psalm "is David's, David's very own, David's favorite. It is David's 
Praise just as another (Psahn Ixxxvi.) is David's Prayer. It is altogether 
praise, and praise pitched in a high key. David had blessed God many a 
time in other psalms, but this he regarded as his peculiar, his crown-jewel 
of praise. Certainly David's praise is the best of praise, for it is that of a 
man of experience, of sincerity, of calm deliberation, and of intense warmth 
of the heart. It is not for any one of us to render David's praise, for David 
only could do that, but we may take David's psalm as a inodel, and aim at 
making our own personal adoration as much like it as possible : we shall be 
long before we equal our model. Let each Christian reader present his own 
praise unto the Lord, and call it by his own name. What a wealth of varied 
praise will thus be presented through Christ Jesus !" — C. H, Spurgeo7i. 

"The ancient Hebrews declare him happy whoever, in after times, utters 
this psalm thrice each day with the mouth, heart and tongue." — Victorinus 
Bythner. 

Praise is no monopoly for one, even though he be a David ; others are 
debtors, let them also be songsters. AH men, of every race, condition or 
generation, should unite to glorify God. 

The Rev. E. Bickersteth, in his last illness, observed, " I have so many 
mercies, I ought to be full of praise. This is a sweet direction : ' In every- 
thing give thanks ' (i Thess. v. 18); there is more divinity in that verse 
than in all the fatliers. It is a bit of gold which enriches. They talk of 
the gold of California, but the gold of that land is good." 

Closet Promise. — That ye should show forth the praises of Him who 
hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. — i Pet. ii. 9. 

Let us serve God in the sunshine while He makes the sun shine. We 
shall then serve Him all the better in the dark when He sends the darkness. 
The darkness is sure to come. Only let our light be God's light, and our 
darkness God's darkness, and we shall be safe at home when the great night- 
fall comes. — Frederick IVi/liam Fabcr. 



274 



TWENTY-FIRST WEEK. 



SATURDAY. 

Broken Cisterns.— Jer. ii. 5-13. 



5 ^ Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have 
your fathers found in me, that they are gone far 
hom me, and have walked after vanity, and are 
become vain ? 

6 Neither said they. Where is the Lord that 
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that 
led us through the wilderness, through a land 
of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, 
and of the shidow of death, through a land that 
no man passed through, and where no man 
dwelt ? 

7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, 
to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; 
but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and 
made mine heritage an abomination. 

8 The priest said not, Where is the LoRD ? 
and they that liandle the law knew me not : the 
pastors also transgressed against me, and the 



prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after 
things Ma/ do. not profit. 

9 \ Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith 
the Lord, and with your children's children will 
I plead. 

10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and 
sej-; and send unto Kedar, and consider dili- 
gently, and see if there be such a thing. 

1 1 Hath a nation changed their gods, which 
are yet no gods ? but my people have changed 
their glory for that -which doth not profit. 

12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and 
be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the 
Lord. 

13 For my people have committed two evils; 
they have forsaken me the fountain of living 
waters, ami hewed them out cisterns, broken 
cisterns, that can hold no water. 



" My people have committed two evils : they have forsaken Me the foun- 
tain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can 
hold no water." Thus God complains in the old covenant ; and this com- 
plaint is in place in our own age. One frequents the springs of human 
wisdom, another drinks from the rapidly sinking brooks of earthly pleasures, 
whilst still another kneels down to filthy puddles of sinful lusts and swallows 
the water of death. The living water of grace and truth flows everywhere. 
The frost of winter does not freeze it, the heat of summer does not dry it 
up ; no man can stop its flow, no one can drink it dry. This water not only 
'^quenches thirst, it creates thirst; not only those who come of themselves 
are welcome, but those who are yet afar off" are invited to come freely. 

The fulness of the earth can never satisfy the soul. The soul of man 
bears the image of God ; so nothing can satisfy it but He whose image it 
bears. Nothing but emptiness attends all earthly things, unless they be 
found in Christ Jesus. 

Closet Promise. — My God shall supply all your need, according to His 
riches in glory by Christ Jesus. — Phil. iv. 19. 



'"AH my need!' oh, what a wonderful promise is this, as fitting to our 
temporal as our eternal ' need.' But the w^onder departs when we see what 
is the treasury whence God draws all these gifts — the riches of the glorj'- 
of His grace through Christ Jesus ! Oh, there is more than enough for the 
need of a million worlds ! " 



SATURDAY. 



275 



' Cast thou away each doubt and fear, 
Solace thy heart, dry every tear ; 
Comfort, and health, and strength are here, 
Hither, O weary, look ! 



For ' Wisdom,' my Omniscience plead. 
For ' Righteousness,' my perfect deed, 
For ' Holiness,' yea, all you need. 
To Me, O sinner, look ! " 



Breakfast Motto. 
Weekly Proverb 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Ye are the salt of the earth. — Matt. v. 13. 
-A Httle too late, much too late. — Dutch. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— CHRIST'S MIGHTY DEEDS. 
Sunday. — The Tempest Stilled. — Mark iv. 35-41. 
Monday. — The Panic in Gadara. — Mark v. 1-2 1. 
Tjiesday. — The Only Daughter. — Luke viii, 41-56. 
Wednesday. — Contrary Winds. — Matt. xiv. 22-36. 
Thursday. — A Most Wonderful Miracle. — John xi. 1-46. 
Friday. — Opening Blind Eyes. — Mark x. 46-56. 
Saturday. — The Woman who was Bent Double. — Luke xiii. 10-30. 



HOW TO BE HAPPY. 



Are you almost disgusted 

With life, little man ? 
I will tell you a wonderful trick 
That will bring you contentment 

If anything can — 
Do something for somebody, quick; 
Do something for somebody, quick ! 

Are you awfully tired 

With play, little girl ? 
Weary, discouraged, and sick ? 
I'll tell you the loveliest 

Game in the world — 
Do something for somebody, quick; 
Do something for somebody, quick ! 



Though it rains like the rain 

Of the flood, little man, 
And the clouds are forbidding and thick, 
You can make the sun shine 

In your soul, little man — 
Do something for somebody, quick; 
Do something for somebody, quick ! 

Though the skies are like brass 

Overhead, little girl. 
And the walk like a well-heated brick ; 
And are earthly affairs 

In a terrible whirl ? 
Do something for somebody, quick ; 
Do something for somebody, quick ! 

■ — Selected. 



Touch not, taste not, handle not. — Col. ii. 21. 

I mean strong drink. Alcohol is poison. The word Alcohol (El Gohul 
is the right way to spell it) means " Great Evil Spirit!' It wasn't enough to 
call it the evil spirit, but the Arabians, because they had never found any- 
thing else that did so much harm, called it the great evil spirit. If you take 
two bottles, and fill one with water, and the other with alcohol, they will 
look just alike. Now how can you find out which bottle has the water, and 
which the alcohol ? I will tell you. Suppose you pour a little from the 
bottles into two saucers, and offer them to your dog when he is thirsty, 
which would he drink? — the water ; and you couldn't coax him to drink the 
other. And it would be just so if you should offer him some one of 
the drinks that people sell in saloons, such as " brandy," " beer," " wine," 



276 THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

" cider," and " whiskey." These all have alcohol in them, and are poison. The 
Indians call drinks tliat have alcohol in them " fire-water ; " because they 
bura so. If you break an egg and drop the white of it in alcohol, it will be 
cooked ! Children, our brains are something like that tgg, and alcohol 
hardens them, if we use it, just in the same way. That's what makes a 
drunken man stagger so when he tries to walk, and talk so strangely when 
he tries to talk. 



THE TEMPEST AT SEA. 

Perhaps you have seen the sea, and how rough are its waves. If you 
ever saw it in a storm, you will remember how terrible it looks. It dashes 
against the rocks as if it would crush them to pieces. In such a storm the 
disciples were when Jesus was with them in a ship, crossing the sea of Gali- 
lee. While they were all in alarm, and " the ship was covered with waves," 
He was in a sweet sleep. They became so terrified that they ran to Him, 
and awoke Him, saying, " Lord, save us; we perish." Then Jesus arose and 
spoke to the winds and sea, and said, " Be still ; " and there was a great calm. 
Why did the winds and sea obey the command of Jesus ? Because He was 
God, the God who made them, and everything in the world ; who said to the 
sea, " Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further." You see one word from 
Jesus could bring peace and comfort. And He can do something still more 
wonderful. He can calm and quiet our angry passions, and say to them, 
" Peace, be still." Let us ask Him to do so, whenever these sinful feelings 
arise in our hearts, and He will hear us, as He did the poor fearful disciples. 



El. « 

=:2, > 

to ci H 

^^ CO 




TWENTY-SECOND \VEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.— Col. ii. 9. 



Thou, O most compassionate, 
Who didst stoop to our estate, 
Drinking of the cup we drain, 
Treading in our palh of pain, 
Through the doubt and mystery, 
Grant to us Thy steps to see. 



And the grace to draw from thence 
Larger hope and confidence. 
Show Thy vacant tomb, and let 
As of old the angels sit, 
Whispering, by its open door, 
" Fear not. He hath gone before." 

— Whittier. 



The longer I live, the more I am assured that the business of life is to 
understand the Lord Christ. — G. Macdonald. 

Every day we may see some new things in Christ ; His love hath neither 
brim nor bottom. — Selected. 

Lay hold upon Christ with both your poor, empty hands. — Elizabeth 
Prentiss. 

We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the 
treasure-chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man 
is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank, and told to help himself, and 
comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor ? Whose fault is 
it that Christian people generally have such scanty portions ot the free riches 
of God ? — McLaren. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Marah, Elim, and Sin.— Ex. xv. 22-27 ; xvi. 1-3. 



22 ^ So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, 
and they went out into the wilderness of Shur ; 
and they went three days in the wilderness, and 
found no water. 

23 And when they came to Marah, they 
could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they 
were bitter; therefore the name of it was called 
Marah. 

24 And the people murmured against Moses, 
saying, What shall we drink ? 

25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the 
Lord showed him a tree, which when he had 
cast into the waters, the waters were made 
sweet : there he made for them a statute and an 
ordinance, and there he proved them, 

26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken 
to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do 
that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear 
to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, 

16 



I will put none of these diseases upon thee, 
which I have brought upon the Egyptians : for 
I am the Lord that healeth thee. 

27 And they came to Elim, where were 
twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten 
palm trees; and they encamped there by the 
waters. 



1 And they took their journey from Elim, and 
all the congregation of the children of Israel 
came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is be- 
tween Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of 
the second month after their departing out of 
the land of Egypt. 

2 And the whole congregation of the children 
of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in 
the wilderness : 

3 And the children of Israel said unto them, 

(277) 



278 TWENTY-SECOND WEEK. 

Would to God we had died by the hand of the I full ; for ye have brought us forth into this 
Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with 
flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the | hunger. 

Murmuring, some one has said, " is the mother of sins." The children 
of Israel not only chided Moses for bringing them out of Egypt, but they 
wished themselves already dead ! " Taking it according to their own way of 
looking at it, and it was only a choice between graves, but it was a choice 
between one of honor or dishonor ; between the grave of a slave or that of 
a freeman ; a grave of hope or one of despair ! Better to starve as a free- 
man in Christ, than to revel as a slave in the luxuries of this world. Their 
stomachs for the time being made them forget how their backs had suffered." 
First of all, let us learn that we are not done with hardships when we have 
left Egypt. The young convert imagines that when he has found Christ, his 
whole after-experience is to be that of comfort. But he knows not what he 
thinks. He will never be done with disagreeables until he has entered 
heaven ; and his first three days' journey will bring him to some bitter 
fountain. 

Again, we need to learn that life is not all hardship. There are Elims, 
with their springs of water and their palm-trees' shade, as well as Marahs. 

" It is matter of universal experience. You are proving it now. Some 
are at Marah, some are at Elim. We all know the general features of both ; 
but we must all remember that they are only stations on our way. We 
cannot be forever either at the one or at the other. Soon the pillar of the 
cloud shall move again, and bring to us either a new difficulty or a new de- 
liverance. But the comfort is that God is in both. He will make the bitter 
sweet, and the pleasant safe. So long as He is with us, adversity has no 
power to destroy us, and prosperity has no charm to tempt us. At Marah 
He is the Lord the healer, and at Elim He is the Lord the shade." — W. M. 
Taylor, D. D. 

One of the old commentators has well said, that no man has any more trust 
in the Lord than he can shozv in times of adversity. It is not the Elims, 
where every want is supplied, that enables one to prove how much faith he 
has in God, but those places in life, like the wilderness of Sin, where the 
supplies give out, and there is no apparent source for getting any more, that 
faith really is tested. Then if one holds to his trust, and does not murmur 
through unbelief, he greatly honors God, and becomes an inspiring example 
to men. 

Closet Promise. — Trust in the Lord, and do good ; so shalt thou dwell 
in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. — Psalm xxxvii. 3. 



279 



Who shall tell our untold need, 

Deeply felt, though scarcely known? 

Who the hungry soul can feed, 
Guard, and guide, but God alone,? 



Blessed promise ! while we see 
Earthly friends must powerless be, 
Earthly fountains quickly dry: 
God shall all your need supply. 

— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



MONDAY. 

The Tongue and the Temper.— Matt. v. 33-4 



33 H Again, ye have heard that it hath been 
said by them of old time. Thou shalt not for- 
swear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord 
thine oaths : 

34 But I say unto you. Swear not all ; neither 
by heaven ; for it is God's throne : 

35 Nor by the earth ; for it is his footstool : 
neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the 
great King. 

36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, be- 
cause thou canst not make one hair white or 
black. 

37 But let your communication be. Yea, yea; 
Nay, nay : for whatsoever is more than these 
comelh of evil. 

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said. An 
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth : 

39 But I say unto you. That ye resist not 
evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy 
right cheek, turn to him the other also. 

40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, 
and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak 
also. 



41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a 
mile, go with him twain. 

42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from 
him that would borrow of thee turn not thou 
away. 

43 \ Ye have heard that it hath been said, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine 
enemy. 

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, 
bless them that curse you, do good to them that 
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully 
use you, and persecute you ; 

45 That ye may be the children of your Fa- 
ther which is in heaven : for he maketh his sun 
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth 
rain on the just and on the unjust. 

46 For if ye love them which love you, what 
reward have ye ? do not even the publicans the 
same ? 

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what 
do ye more than others ? do not even the pub- 
licans so ? 

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
Father which is in heaven is perfect. 



This lesson is a call to holy living. " What do ye more than others ? " 
Let us note the grounds for expecting vtore from Christians: i. They 
profess more. 2. True Christians rtr^ more than others. 3. It is certain the 
true Christian can do more than others, he has the Holy Spirit within him, 
4. They have more. 

The marrow of the Gospel is found in verses 44-48. The teaching of 
the New Testament is that love is the only religion. " Love 3^our enemies, 
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them 
which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Those are very steep 
steps ! 

" I wonder how many prayers you ever sent up for those that hate you ? 
I think it did not take the top of one sheet in the angel's record-book to 
put down all the prayers that you ever made for men that hate you." — H. 
W. Beecher. 

And yet we are commanded to pray for them. Under what terrible cir- 
cumstances was the Saviour called upon to illustrate this precept by His 
own example ! And yet, amid all the rasping and stinging taunts and 



280 



TWENTY-SECOND WEEK. 



exulting cruelly of those who nailed Him to the cross, with a sweetness of 
spirit that had in it not one drop of bitterness, He prayed : " Father, forgive 
them ; for they know not what they do." 

Closet Promise. — If any man love God, the same is known of Him. — i 
Cor. viii. 3. 

A great change comes into the life when love controls it. " For My 
sake," is never pleaded in vain by lips we love. " For Jesus' sake " is the 
sweetest impelling motive in a heart that is truly His. It is a motive which 
makes self-denial a pleasure. " Love never talks of crosses and losses." 
Love never asks, " How little must I give up?" but " How much can I 
do ? " True love to Jesus sets us to cultivating our conscience to see His 
claims, instead of trying to accommodate His claims to our limited and 
selfish views of duty. He said : " Greater love hath no man than this, that 
a man lay down his life for his friends." So, then. He has given us the 
highest possible proof of the deepest and most unselfish devotion. The 
wonder is that such love has so little influence over our conduct toward 
Him. What shall I render ? Myself, including every faculty of mind and 
body, and whatever these powers may accomplish in loving service in His 
name. 



TUESDAY. 

The Reckoning of Faith. — Rom. vi. 1-14. 



1 Wliat shall we say, then? Shall we con- 
tinue in sin, that grace may abound ? 

2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead 
to sin, live any longer therein? 

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were 
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his 
death ? 

4 Therefore we are buried with him by bap- 
tism into death : that like as Christ was raised 
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

5 For if we have been planted together in 
the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the 
likeness of his resurrection : 

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified 
with him, that the body of sin might be de- 
stroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 

7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 

8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe 
that we shall also live with him : 



9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the 
dead dieth no more ; death hath no more do- 
minion over him. 

ID For in that he died, he died unto sin 
once : but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 

1 1 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be 
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God 
through Jesus Christ our Loid. 

1 2 Let not sin therefore reign in your mor- 
tal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts 
thereof. 

13 Neither yield ye your members aj instru- 
ments of unrighteousness unto sin : but yield 
yourselves unto God, as those that are alive 
from the dead, and your members as instruments 
of righteousness unto God. 

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you : 
for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 



The eleventh verse is the keynote of this chapter. Do you ask " How 
does faith reckon ? " The answer is : i. It takes the promises of God, and 
says, These promises are true, and I will act upon them. 2. And inasmuch 



TUESDAY. 



281 



as I have certainly complied with the conditions, I now rest entirely and 
exclusively upon the veracity of God, and therefore do now receive within 
myself the end of my faith. 3. As an act of faith this assumption does not 
rest upon any sensible change, nor upon any perceived difference in the state 
of the heart, but solely upon two facts : (i) That God has promised it im- 
mediately upon certain conditions. (2) That I do now fulfil those conditions. 
Let us not doubt God's word, therefore, in the absence of emotion. " Ye 
are not under the law, but under grace." So far as the law is concerned, it 
is dead to those who live by love. There it is, away down below, to catch 
them if they fall ; but if they keep up where they are, it will not touch 
them. 

Closet Promise. — Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have 
believed. — John xx. 29. 



Both mine arms are clasped around Thee 

And my head is on Thy breast ; 
For my weary soul has found Thee 



Such 2. perfect, perfect rest. 
Dearest Saviour, 
Now I know that I am bless'd.' 



WEDNESDAY. 

' The Prayer of the Aged Believer." — Psalm Ixxi. 9-24. 



9 Cast me not off in the time of old age ; 
forsake me not when my strength faileth. 

10 For mine enemies speak against me; and 
they that lay wait for my soul take counsel lo- 
gether, 

1 1 Saying, God hath forsaken him : perse- 
cute and take him; for there is none to deliver 
him, 

12 O God, be not far from me : O my God, 
make haste for my help. 

13 Let them be confounded (7?Z(/ consumed 
that are adversaries to my soul ; let them be 
covered with reproach and dishonour that seek 
my hurt. 

14 But I will hope continually, and will yet 
praise thee more and more. 

15 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteous- 
ness and thy salvation all the day ; for I know 
not the numbers thereof. 

16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God : 
I will make mention of thy righteousness, even 
of thine only. 

17 O God, thou hast taught me from my 
youth : and hitherto have I declared thy won- 
drous works. 



18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, 
O God, forsake me not: until I have shewed 
thy strength unto this generation, awo'thy power 
to every one that is to come. 

19 Thy righteousness also, O God, is very 
high, who hast done great things : O God, who 
is like unto thee ! 

20 7hojf, which hast shewed me great and 
sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt 
bring me up again from the depths of the 
earth. 

21 Thou shalt increase my greatness, and 
comfort me on every side. 

22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, 
et/en thy truth, O my God : unto thee will I sing 
with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. 

23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing 
unto thee ; and my soul, which thou hast re- 
deemed. 

24 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteous- 
ness all the day long : for they are confounded, 
for they are brought unto shame, that seek my 
hurt. 



This Psalm was specially prized by Robert Blair, one of our godly fore- 
fathers. He used to call it "His Psalm." 

" It shows us the soul of the aged saint, darkened by the remembrance 



382 TWENTY-SECOND WEEK. 

of his great transgressions, and by the swarms of sorrows with which that 
sin filled all his later years. But he finds comfort in reverting to the happy 
days of his childhood, and especially to the irrevocable trust which he was 
then enabled to repose in God. The thoughts and feelings expressed remind 
one of those which invest with such a solemn, tender interest the Second 
Epistle to Timothy, which embalms the dying thoughts of the great apostle. 
Like Paul, David takes a retrospect of the Lord's dealings with him from 
the beginning; and, in effect, declares, with the dying apostle, 'I am not 
ashamed : for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is 
able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.' 2 
Tim. i. 12. Only, there is this notable difference between the two, that 
while Paul gathered confirmation of his faith from the experience of a thirty 
years' walk with his Lord, David's experience stretched over more than 
twice so many years; for it began with his childhood." — William Bitiney. 

Closet Promise. — This God is our God for ever and ever: He will be 
our guide even unto death. — Psalm xlviii. 14. 

We havq. often to travel solitary ways. Some of us have a journey all 
alone, with no fellow-travellers for society or for succor. Some of us have 
perplexed paths to tread. Some of us have sad memories of times when 
we journeyed in company with those who will never share our tent or coun- 
sel our steps any more, and, as we sit lonely by our watch-fire in the wilder- 
ness, have aching hearts and silent nights. Some of us may be as yet rich 
in companions and helpers, whose words are wisdom, whose wishes are love 
to us, and may tremble as we think that one day either they or we shall 
have to tramp on by ourselves. But for us all, cast down and lonely, or 
still blessed with dear ones, and afraid to live without them, there is a pres- 
ence which departs never, which will move before us as we journey, and 
hover over us as a shield when we rest ; which will be a cloud to vail the 
sun that it smite us not by day, and will redden into fire as the night falls, 
being ever brightest when we need it most, and burning clearest of all in the 
valley at the end, where its guidance will only cease, because then " the 
Lamb that is in the midst of the throne will lead them." " This God is our 
God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death." — Alexander 
Maclaren, D. D. 

THURSDAY. 

" LovEST Thou Me?" — John xxi. 15-23. 

15 ^ So when they had dined, Jesus said to I Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He 
Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou sailh unto him, Feed my lambs, 
me more than these ? He saith unto him. Yea, I 16 He saith to him again the second time, 



T II U K. vS D A Y 



L'83 



Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He 
saith unto him, Yea, Lord ; thou knowest 
that I love thee. He saith unto him. Feed my 
sheep. 

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, 
son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was 
grieved because he said unto him the third 
time, Lovest thou me? And he siaid unto him, 
Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest 
that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed 
my sheep. 

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee. When 
thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and 
walkedst whither thou wouldest : but when 
thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy 
hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry 
thee whither thou wouldest not. 



19 This spake he, signifying by what death 
he should glorify God. And when he had 
spoken this, he saith unto him. Follow me. 

2D Then Peter, turning about, seeth the dis- 
ciple whom Jesus loved following ; which also 
leaned on his Ijreasl at supper, and said, Lord, 
which is he that betrayeth thee ? 

21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and 
what s/iaU this man do ? 

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he 
tarry till I come, what is thai to thee? follow 
thou me. 

23 Then went this saying abroad among the 
brethren, that that disciple should not die; yet 
Jesus said not unto him. He shall not die; but, 
if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that 
to thee ? 



" Love is the heart of religion, the fat of the offering : it is the grace 
which Christ inquires most after — ' Peter, lovest thou Me ? ' Love makes all 
our services acceptable — it is the musk that perfumes them." — Watsoi. 

" Not John, or Matthew, or the disciples collectively ; but t/toti, Peter — 
lovest THOU Me ? Jesus' eye fastens on him, and again and again, and yet 
again He presses the question : ' Simon Peter, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me ? ' 
How the words searched and tested and grieved the disciple ! There was 
no escape for him. It was as if he stood before the burning throne of 
judgment. So it will be with every disciple. Religion is pre-eminently a 
persotial thing. The faith and virtue of others will save no man. Each for 
himself must heed, believe, obey, love our Lord Jesus Christ, or die in his 
sins. 'Thou!' How the eye, and voice, and penetrating words of Jesus 
on the judgment throne will search and test every soul of us ! " — jf. M. Sher- 
wood, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and 
I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. — John xiv. 21. 



"Tested in poverty, proven in wealth ; 
Chastened in sickness, tested in health ; 
Triumphant by grace — made perfectly free, 
Arms ' of His mighty love ' clasped around 

me; 
Love Him ? Yes, love Him ! — no language 

can tell 
How much I love Jesus who saved me from 

hell ! 
Crosses of daily life, watching and prayer, 



Crown in bright glory expecting to wear; 
Love Him ? Yes, love Him ! O, who could 

withhold 
Loving the Saviour who redeemed us when 

' sold ! ' 
Died on the rugged cross. He rescued my 

soul — 
Shed out His precious blood — maketh me 

whole ! " 
" Glory to God in the highest ! " 



284 



TWJ^NTY-SECOND WEE^K. 



FRIDAY. 

"The Lord is My Strength." — Habakkuk iii. 



1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon 
Shigionoth. 

2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was 
afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst 
of the years, in the midst of the years make 
known ; in wrath remember mercy. 

3 God came from Teman, and ihe Holy One 
from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory cov- 
ered the heavens, and the earth was full of his 
praise. 

4 And his brightness was as the light ; he 
had horns coming out of his hand : and there 
was the hiding of his power. 

5 Before him went the pestilence, and burn- 
ing coals went forth at his feet. 

6 He stood, and measured the earth : he 
beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and 

. the everlasting mountains were scattered, the 
perpetual hills did bow : his ways are ever-' 
lasting. 

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction ; 
and the curtains of the land of Midian did 
tremble. 

8 Was the Lord displeased against the riv- 
ers ? was thine anger against the rivers ? was 
thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride 
upon thine horses and thy chariots of salva- 
tion ? 

9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according 
to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Se- 
lah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. 

ID The mountains saw thee, and they trem- 
bled : the overflowing of the water passed by : 
the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his 
hands on high. 



11 The sun and moon stood still in their 
habitation : at the light of thine arrows they 
went, and at the shining of thy glittering 
spear. 

12 Thou didst march through the land in in- 
dignation, thou didst thresh the iieathen in 
anger. 

13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of 
thy people, even for salvation with thine 
anointed ; thou woundedst the Kead out of the 
house of the wicked, by discovering the founda- 
tion unto the neck. Selah. 

14 Thou didst strike through with his staves 
the head of his villages : they came out as a 
whirlwind to scatter me : their rejoicing was as 
to devour the poor secretly. 

15 Thou didst walk through the sea with 
thine horses, through the heap of great waters. 

16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my 
lips quivered at the voice : rottenness entered 
into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I 
might rest in the day of trouble : when he 
Cometh up unto the people, he will invade them 
with his troops. 

17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, 
neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labour 
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield 
no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the 
fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls : 

18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy 
in the God of my salvation. 

19 The Lord God is my strength, and he 
will make my feet like hinds' /^('/, and he will 
make me to walk upon mine high places. To 
the chief singer on my stringed instruments. 



The prayer of the prophet, in the strictest sense of the word, is contained 
in verse 2. The rest is, in its form, praise and thanksgiving, chiefly for God's 
past mercies. But thanksgiving is an essential part of prayer, arid Hannah 
is said to have prayed, whereas the hymn which followed is throughout one 
thanksgiving. 

In verses 17-19 the prophet repeats his confidence in God, premising his 
knowledge that all human hopes should fail. 

" The time to test religion is in the emergencies of life. When every 
thing is prosperous, when your health is good, when your spirits are fine, 
when your circumstances are as you would have them, that you are joyful 
in religion is a thing to be thankful for; but, after all, it is not a test of re- 
ligion in you. If it were presented as evidence of your piet)-, men would 
say, ' Why should he not rejoice in the Lord ? He has everything he wants. 
Take away his property and his family, and then see if he will be such a 



FRIDAY. 



285 



happy Christian.' But if, when a man is unprosperous, he has a religion 
that will carry him through ; if, when a man is in great affliction, he has a 
religion that will hold him up; if, when a man is under vehement tempta- 
tion, he has a religion that is like a coat of mail; if, when a man has lost 
all that the world clings to, he still has that which is more to him than 
houses, or lands, or friends, or honor; if, finally, when heart and flesh fail, 
God is the strength of his salvation, his joy and his triumph, then he has a 
religion that is worth having. And nobody can well afford to be without 
the experience of intimate faith and love by which the soul is sustained in 
temptation, in adversity, and in death itself" — H. IV. Bccclier. 

Closet Promise. — Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel ; I 
will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. — 
Isa. xli. 14. 



' O Lord, how happy ^ould we be 
If we could cast our care on Thee, 

If we from self could rest, 
And feel at heart that One above. 
In perfect wisdom, perfect love, 

Is working for the best : 



' Could we but kneel and cast our load. 
E'en while we pray, upon our God, 

Then rise with lightened cheer. 
Sure that the Father, who is nigh 
To still the famished raven's cry. 

Will hear in that we fear." 



SATURDAY. 

Self-Examination. — 2 Cor. xiii. 5- 



-5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the 
faith ; prove your own selves. Know ye not 
your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, 
except ye be reprobates ? 

6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are 
not reprobates. 

7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil ; not 
that we should appear approved, but that ye 
should do that which is honest, though we be as 
reprobates. 

8 FBr we can do nothing against the truth, 
but for the truth. 



9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and 
ye are strong : and this also we wish, even your 
perfection. 

10 Therefore I write these things being ab- 
sent, lest being present I should use sharpness, 
according to the power which the Lord hath 
given me to edification, and not to destruction. 

11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, 
be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in 
peace ; and the God of love and peace shall be 
with you. 



In this reading we dwell specially upon verse 5 — the duty of self-exam- 
ination. That is, such a study of one's self that he may know, day by day, 
how he stands as compared with the accredited rules of life. In a sense, it 
is the soul's book-keeping. The careful merchant knows each day the 
exact condition of his affairs. 

" He that keeps his house in constant repair prevents the fall of it. There- 
fore look to your hearts still." — Manton. 

" Often reflect upon thyself in a day, and observe what company is with 
thy heart. We may know by the noise in the school that the master is not 



286 TWENTY-SECOND WEEK. 

there ; much of the misrule in our own bosom arises from the neglect of 
visiting our \\&3iYts." ^Gurnail. 

" Make up your spiritual accounts daily ; see how matters stand between 
God and your souls (Psalm Ixxvii. 6). Often reckonings keep God and 
conscience friends. Do with your hearts as you do with your watches ; 
wind them up every morning by prayer, and at night examine whether your 
hearts have gone true all that day, whether the wheels of your affections 
have moved swiftly toward heaven. Oh, call yourselves often to account ; 
keep your reckonings even, and that is the way to keep your peace." — 
Watson. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty ; 
He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy ; He will rest in His love, 
He will joy over thee with singing. — Zeph. iii. 17. 



" I ask if Thou canst love me still, O God ? 

They say Thou canst not love so weak a 
thing — 
One that was angered by a Father's rod, 
One that hath wayward and rebellious been. 
Unstable, thankle^5S, prone to sin. 
Thou knowest all — yet whither shall I go 
To leave my sins, and with them leave my woe, 



Except to Thee, who only help canst bring. 
And bid me live Thy pardoning love to sing ? 
I come ; my sinful thoughts have vexed me 

long ; 
And I am weak, but Thou, my God, ait strong. 
I lay my head upon Thy loving heart, 
I hi<le beneath the shelter of Thy wing, 
And, helpless, to my Father's love I cling." 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — My God shall supply all your need according to 
His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. — Phil. iv. 19. 

Weekly Proverb. — " If I rest, I rust," says the key. — German. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— CHRIST'S WONDERFUL WORDS. 



35- 



Sunday. — The Seed Sower. — Mark iv. 1-25. 
Monday. — The Power of Little Things. — Matt. xiii. 31 
Tuesday. — That Which was Lost. — Luke xv. i-io. 
Wednesday. — The Lost Man. — Luke xv. 11-32. 
Thursday. — The Importunate Widow. — Luke xviii. 1-14. 
Friday. — The Fruitless Tree, — Mark xi. 12-26. 
Saturday. — The Answers of Two Sons. — Matt. xxi. 23-32 



A DISASTROUS RIDE. 



Some little drops of water. 
Whose home was in the sea, 

To go upon a journey 
Once happened to agree. 



A cloud they had for carriage, 
They drove a playful breeze, 

And over town and country 
They rode along at ease. 



THE CHII^DREN'S CORNER. 287 

But oh, there were so many, | And through the moss and grasses 

At last the carriage broke. They were compelled to roam, 

And to the ground came tumbling Until a brooklet found them 

These frightened little folk. And carried them all home. 

1 — Selected. 

The drunkard shall come to poverty. — Prov. xxiii. 21. 

I atn anxious that all my little friends shall grow up and have nice cloth- 
ing, happy homes and good characters. I will tell you in two words what 
will help you to do this : Be tejuperate. A German spoke as follows at a 
temperance meeting : " I shall tell you how it vas. I put my hand on my 
head : there vas von big pain. Then I put mine hand on my pody. There 
vas another. There vas very much pains in all my pody. Then I put 
mine hand in my pocket and there vas nothing. Now, there is no more 
pain in my head. The pains in my pody are all gone avay. I put mine 
hand in my pocket, and there ish twenty dollars So I shall shtay mit 
de temperance." The wise man in the book of Proverbs says : " Who hath 
woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions ? who hath babbling ? who 
hath wounds without a cause? who hath redness of eyes ? They that tarry 
long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon 
the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth 
itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an 
adder." Boys, don't go near the saloon ; girls, try and keep everybody 
away from thetn. Wicked men are inside. They have set traps • they catch 
men, and they love to catch boys, for boys grow to be men. 



TWENTY-THIRD WEEK. 

PEARL TEXT. — Take therefore no thought for the morrow : for the morrow shall take 
thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. — Matt. vi. 34. 



I have nothing to do with to-morrow, 
My Saviour will make that His care ; 

Should He fill it with trouble or sorrow, 
He would help me to suffer and bear. 



I have nothing to do with to-morrow, 
Its burdens, then, why should I share ? 

Its grace and its strength I can't borrow, 
Then why should I borrow its care ? 

— Selected. 



Every to-morrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle 
of anxiety or the handle of faith. — Selected. 



Build a little fence of trust 

Around to-day ; 
Fill its space with loving work, 

And therein stay. 



Peer not through the sheltering bars 

At to-morrow ; 
God will help thee bear what comes 

Of joy or sorrow. 

—Mrs. M. F. Butts. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 



The Sinner's Guide. — Psalm li. 



1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to 
thy lovingkindness : according unto the multi 
tude of thy tender mercies blot out my trans- 
gressions. 

2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity 
and cleanse me from my sin. 

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions : anc 
my sin is ever before me. 

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, anc 
done this evil in thy sight : that thou mightes 
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear 
when thou judgest. 

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity ; and in 
sin did my mother conceive me. 

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward 
parts : and in the hidden part thou shalt make 
me to know wisdom. 

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean : 
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness ; that 
the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out 
all mine iniquities. 



10 Create in me a clean heart, O God ; and 
renew a right spirit within me. 

1 1 Cast me not away from thy presence ; and 
take not thy Holy Spirit from me. 

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; 
and uphold me with thy free Spirit. 

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways ; 
and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, 
thou God of my salvation : and my tongue shall 
sing aloud of thy righteousness. 

15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my 
mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice ; else would 
I give //.• thou deliglitest not in burnt offering. 

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : 
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt 
not despise. 

18 Do good ill thy good pleasure unto Zion : 
build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 

19 Then shall thou be pleased with the sacri- 
fices of righteousness, with burnt offering and 
whole burnt offering : then shall they offer bul- 
locks upon thine altar. 



This Psalm is David's cry for pardon. He had fallen into a terrible crime ; 
and in the words of this Psalm his broken and contrite spirit groans for de- 
liverance. 



SUNDAY. 289 

"Athanasius recommends to some Christians, to whom he was writing, to 
repeat it when they awake at night. All evangelical churches are familiar 
with it. Luther says, * There is no other Psalm which is oftener sung or 
prayed in the church.' " — W. S. Pliimmer. 

" The ' mercy ' of God, His ' lovingkindness,' His ' tender mercies,' ' the 
multitude of His tender mercies,' form the only plea, which the royal peni- 
tent admits in seeking forgiveness of his heinous crimes. He does not 
once mention his former services in the cause of religion ; or palliate his 
conduct, by the peculiar temptations of his high rank, and the customs of 
princes ; or plead that he was inadvertently betrayed into it, and led on by 
imperceptible degrees, step by step : but, as a vile and miserable sinner, with 
many repetitions and an accumulation of words, energetically expressing 
his inmost thoughts and feelings, he dwells on the only cheering thought his 
case allowed of; and entreats that God would, ' to the praise of the glory 
of His grace,' forgive his sins, as a debt which when remitted is blotted out; 
.and as the stain was beyond expression deep, that He would thoroughly wash 
and cleanse it all away." — Thoiims Scott. 

Closet Promise. — Ihe Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, 
to all that call upon Him in truth. — Psalm cxlv. l8, 

"O Lord, make me sincere and without offence. Make me sincere in my 
prayers to Thee. May my petitions always express the desire of my heart. 
Make .me sincere in regard to my fellow-men. May all my expressions in 
regard to them be according to truth. May all my feelings toward them 
meet Thine approbation. Save me from giving offence to others. Let me 
not by indolence, by thoughtlessness, by prejudice, or by passion be the oc- 
casion of leading any to sin." 

MONDAY. 

Childlikeness. — Mark ix. 33-42. 



33 And he came to Capernaum : and being | 
in the house he asked them, What was it that ye ' 
disputed among yourselves liy the way ? 

34 But they held their peace : for by the way 
they had disputed among themselves, who should 
be the greatest. 

35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, 
and saith unto them, If any man desire to be 
first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of 
all. 

36 And he took a child, and set him in the 
midst of them : and when he had taken him in 
his arms, he said unto them, 

37 Whosoever shall receive one of such chil- 



dren in my name, receiveth me ; and whosoever 
shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that 
sent me. 

38 And John answered him, saying, Master, 
we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and 
he followeth not us; and we forbade him, be- 
cause he followeth not us. 

39 But Jfjsus said. Forbid him not : for there 
is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, 
that can lightly speak evil of me. 

40 For he that is not against us is on our 
part. 

41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of 
water to drink in my name, because ye belong 



290 



TWBNtY-THIRD WEEK. 



to Christ, verily I say unto yon, he shall not lose 
his reward. 

42 And whosoever shall offend one of these 



little ones that believe in me, it is better for him 
that a millstone were hanged about his neck, 
and he were cast into the sea. 



"As little children." Not like them in ignorance, not in fickleness, not in 
waywardness. Little children are teachable and ready of belief; are devoid 
of malignity ; are characterized by humility. " Humility is not at all the 
thing that people suppose it to be. Take Christ's exposition of it. The 
child humbles himself How did the child humble himself? He came 
when Christ called, he suffered himself to be embraced, and he stood where 
Christ put him, without pretending to be anything more than he was, an 
honest, fine, healthy-looking boy. Christ calls that humility. People think 
that going and moping about the world and saying, ' I am very imperfect,' is 

humility. Protect me from such humility Humility is that of the boy 

coming when Christ called, suffering himself to be embraced, standing there 
as long as Christ wanted him to stand, without endeavoring to appear to be 
anything that he was not. That is Christian humility." — Thomas Jojies. 

" He that is in the low pits and caves of the earth, sees the stars in the 
firmament, when they who are on the tops of the mountains discern them 
not. He that is most humble, sees most of heaven, and shall have most of 
it ; for the lower the ebb, the higher the tide ; and the lower the foundation of 
virtue is laid, the higher shall the roof of glory be overlaid." — yo/m Trapp. 

Closet Promise. — Whosoever shall humble himself as a little child, the 
>ame is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.— Matt, xviii. 4. 



The day will come when men have grace 
To know themselves, and sometimes take 

An humble task, a lowly place, 
And use it well for honor's sake. 

The day will come when men shall know 
That goodness only can be great, 

That no man can be mean and low 
Whose nobleness is his estate. 



The day will come when men shall serve 

One Master, Christ, and own Him King, 
And unto Him without reserve. 
Their lives for sacrifice shall bring. 

The night is dark, the time is late; 

We strive and struggle and endure ; 
So much we pray, so long we wait, 

O, happy day, be swift, be sure ! 

— Marianne Farmingha. 



TUESDAY. 

God's Providence for His Flock. — Ezek. xxxiv. 11-31. 



11 If For thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, 
I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek 
them out. 

12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in 
the day that he is among his sheep //lat are 
scattered ; so will I .seek out my sheep, and will 
deliver them out of all places where they have 
been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 



13 And I will bring them out from the peo- 
ple, and gather them from the countries, and 
will bring them to their own land, and feed 
them upon the mountains of Israel by the 
rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the 
country. 

14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and 
upon the liigh mountains of Israel shall their 



TUESDAY. 



291 



fold be: there shall ihey lie in a good fold, and 
in a fat pasture shall ihey feed upon the moun- 
tains of Israel. 

15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause 
them to lie down, saith the Lord God. 

16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring 
again that which was driven away, and will 
bind up Ihal which wirs broken, and will 
strengthen that which was sick : but I will de- 
stroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them 
with judgment. 

17 And (7s for you, O my flock, thus saith 
the Lord God: Behold, I judge between cattle 
and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. 

18 Seeiiic'th it a small thing unto you to have 
eaten up the good pasture, but ye nmst tread 
down with your feet the residue of your pas- 
tures ? and to have drunk of the deep waters, 
but ye must foul the residue with your feet? 

19 And as for my flock, they eat that which 
ye have trodden with your feet ; and they drink 
that which ye have fouled with your feet. 

20 ^ Therefore thus saith the Lord CiOD unto 
them: Behold, L even \, will judge between 
the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. 

21 Because ye have thrust with side and with 
shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your 
horns, till ye have scattered them abroad ; 

22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they 
shall no more be a prey ; and I will judge be- 
tween cattle and cattle. 

23 And I will set up one Shepherd over 
them, and he shall feed them, even my servant 
David; he shall feed them, and he shall be 
their shepherd. 



24 And I the Lord will be their God, and 
my servant David a prince among them ; I the 
Lord have spoken it. 

25 And I will make with them a covenant of 
peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease 
out of the land : and they shall dwell safely in 
the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. 

26 And I will make them and the places 
round about my hill a blessing; and I will 
cause the shower to come down in his season ; 
there shall be showers of blessing. 

27 And the tree of the field shall yield her 
fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and 
they shall be safe in their land, and shall know 
that I am the Lord, when I have broken the 
bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of 
the hand of those that served themselves of 
them. 

28 And they shall no more be a prey to the 
heathen, neither shall the beast of the land de- 
vour them; but they shall dwell safely, and 
none shall make them afraid. 

29 And I will raise up for them a plant of 
renown, and they shall be no more consumed 
with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame 
of the heathen any more. 

30 Thus shall they know that I the Lord 
their God am with them, and that they, even 
the house of Israel, are my people, saith the 
Lord God. 

31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, 
are men, and 1 am your God, saitli the Lord 
God. 



Under the allegory of a flock of sheep, God points out men ; under that 
of a pasture, His Church; and under that of a shepherd, the Messiah, 
through whom He is become their God. 

The incarnate Son of God came into this dreary wilderness " to seek and 
save that which was lost ; " personally, in the days of His flesh, He went 
about seeking " the lost sheep of the house of Israel ; " and, by His apostles 
and His ministers ever since, He has gone to search them out all over the 
Gentile world. He comes to their relief in the dark and cloudy days of per- 
secution and temptation ; He heals their backslidings, leads them forth in 
the paths of righteousness, feeds them in the rich pastures of His ordinances, 
folds them under His omnipotent protection and causes them to rest and re- 
pose their souls upon His love and faithfulness. He seeks those that wander, 
and brings back that which was driven away; He binds up the broken- 
hearted and heals the diseased. 

Let us rejoice in His condescending love, who has chosen us rebellious 
men to be the sheep of His pasture, and is become our Shepherd and Sal- 
vation : and let us " hear His voice, and follow Him, and He will give us 



292 



TWENTY-THIRD WEEK. 



eternal life, and we shall never perish ; neither shall any one ever pluck us 
out of His Almighty hands." 

Closet Promise. — I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and 
am known of Mine. — John x. 14. 



He goes before ! a shield against the storm ; 

A shadow in the noonday, lights at night ; 
In danger's hour, there is the Shepherd's form 

But just beyond ; though fears may dim our 
sight. 



O earthly flock, fear not for evermore ! 
Where'er we walk, our Shepherd goes before. 
— /. H. T. 



WEDNESDAY. 

Confidence in God. — Psalm Ixi. 



1 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my 
prayer. 

2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto 
thee, when my heart is overwhelmed : lead me 
to the rock that is higher than I. 

3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and 
a strong tower from the enemy. 

4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I 
will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. 

5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows : 



thou hast given me the heritage of those that 
fear thy name. 

6 Tliou wilt prolong the king's life : and his 
years as many generations. 

7 He shall abide before God forever: oh 
prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve 
him. 

8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for 
ever, that I may daily perform my vows. 



" This Psalm is a pearl. It is little, but precious. To many a mourner 
it has furnished utterance when the mind could not have devised speech for 
itself. It was evidently composed by David after he had come to the throne 
— see verse 6. The second verse leads us to believe that it was written dur- 
ing the psalmist's enforced exile from the tabernacle, which was the visible 
abode of God ; if so, the period of Absalom's rebellion has been most suit- 
ably suggested as the date of its authorship, and Delitzsch is correct in en- 
titling it ' Prayer and thanksgiving of an expelled king on his way back to 
his throne.' " — C. H. Spnrgeon. 

What a consoling thought it is that the Lord at all times hears his peo- 
ple's cries, and is never forgetful of their prayers ; whatever else fails to 
move Him, praying breath is never spent in vain ! He hears when the heart 
is " overzvhehnedy David saw the Lord was his refuge, sure and strong ; 
but, alas ! he was weak, and could not climb. " So he makes prayer the 
scaling ladder to get upon that rock and into that tower that otherwise had 
been too high for him ; he gets that safety and deliverance which otherwise 
but by prayer unto God had been impossible to have been obtained." — 
yeremiah Dyke. 



Closet Promise. 

Psalm Iv. 22. 



■He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.- 




CHRIST AND NICODEMUS. 

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be bom ags.\n.—Johii iii. 7. 

293 



WEDNESDAY. 



293 



Rest and be silent! For faitlifully libtcning, 
Patiently wailing, thine eyes shall behold 

Pearls in the waters of quietness glistening, 
Treasures of promise that He shall unfold. 



Rest, and be silent, for Jesus is here, 
Calming and stilling each ripple of fear. 

— F. J?. Havergai. 



THURSDAY. 

An Upright Man.— Job i. 



1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose 
name was Job; and that man was perfect and 
upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed 
evil. 

2 And there were horn unto him seven sons 
and three daughters. 

3 His substance also was seven thousand 
sheep, and three thousand camels, and five 
hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she 
asses, and a very great household ; so that this 
man was the greatest of all the men of the east. 

4 And his sons went and feasted in their 
houses, every one his day ; and sent and called 
for their three sisters to eat and to drink with 
them. 

5 And it was so, when the days of their feast- 
ing were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified 
them, and rose up early in the morning, and 
offered burnt offerings according to the number 
of them all : for Job said. It may be that my 
sons have sinned, and cursed God in their 
hearts. Thus did Job continually. 

6 \ Now there was a day when the sons of 
God came to prtsent themselves before the 
Lord, and Satan came also among them. 

7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence 
comest thou ? Then Satan answered the Lord, 
and said. From going to and fro in the earth, 
and from walking up and down in it. 

8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou 
considered my servant Job, that there is none 
like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright 
man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 

9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, 
Doth Job fear God for nought? 

ID Hast not thou made a hedge about him, 
and about his house, and about all that he hath 
on every side? thou hast blessed the work of 
his hands, and his substance is increased in the 
land. 

1 1 But put forth thine hand now, and touch 
all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy 
face. 



12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, 
all that he hath is in thy power; only upon 
himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan 
went forth from the presence of the LoRD. 

13 1[ And there was a day when his sons and 
his daughters -were eating and drinking wine in 
their eldest brother's house : 

14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and 
said. The oxen were ploughing, and the asses 
feeding beside them : 

15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took 
them away ; yea, they have slain the servants 
with the edge of the sword ; and I only am es- 
caped alone to tell thee. 

16 While he was yet speaking, there came 
also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen 
from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and 
the servants, and consumed them ; and I only 
am escaped alone to tell thee. 

17 While he was yet speaking, there came 
also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out 
three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have 
carried them away, yea, and slain the servants 
with the edge of the sword ; and I only am es- 
caped alone to tell thee. 

18 While he was yet speaking, there came 
also another, and said. Thy sons and thy daugh- 
ters were eating and drinking wine in their el- 
dest brother's house: 

19 And, behold, there came a great wind 
from the wilderness, and smote the four corners 
of the house, and it fell upon the young men, 
and they are dead ; and I only am escaped alone 
to tell thee. 

20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and 
shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, 
and worshipped, 

21 And said, Naked came I out of my moth- 
er's womb, and naked shall I return thither : 
the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
blessed he the name of the Lord. 

22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged 
God foolishly. 



In Job we have the death of self. Man is taught to see himself as he 
really is in the Lord's presence. His utter weakness and need are here 
revealed to him, and he is brought to an end of the self-life. 

Job was a righteous man. coming under the refining and purifying hand 
of the Lord. By all that happened to him, he was brought to a knowledge 
17 



294 



TWENTY-THIRD WEEK, 



of his own heart, and was made to abhor himself in dust and ashes. The 
instrument used was Satan, but the Hand that used this instrument was the 
Lord's. Therefore, while Satan seemed to do it all, there was One behind 
Satan who overruled everything, and made it all work together to accom- 
plish His purposes of grace toward Job. God used Satan to spoil, that in 
the spoiling Job himself might be saved. 

This story of Job is, I believe, enacted over and over in our midst to-day. 
The righteous suffer, and we cannot tell why. And Satan seems so busy in 
the matter that it is hard to trace the hand of the Lord in it at all. But His 
hand is in it nevertheless, and He overrules everything. 

Closet Promise. — Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. — James 
iv. 7. 

Martin Luther says : " You cannot prevent the devil from shooting arrows 
of evil thoughts into your heart ; but take care that you do not let such 
arrows stick fast or grow there. Do as an old man of past times has said : 
I cannot prevent a bird from flying over my head, but I can prevent him 
from making a nest in my hair." 



FRIDAY. 

Bitter Afflictions.— Job ii. i-io. 



1 Again there was a day when the sons of 
God came to present themselves before the 
Lord, and Satan came also among them to 
present himself before the LORD. 

2 And the Lord said unto Satan, From 
whence comest thou ? And Satan answered 
the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in 
the earth, and from walking up and down 
in it. 

3 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou 
considered my servant Job, that (here is none 
like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright 
man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil ? 
and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although 
ihou movedst me against him, to destroy him 
without cause. 

4 And Satan answered the Lord, and said, 
Skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will he 
give for his life. 



5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch 
his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee 
to thy face. 

6 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, 
he is in thine hand ; but save his life. 

7 .So went Satan forth from the presence of 
the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from 
the sole of his foot unto his crown. 

8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape 
himself withal; and he sat down among the 
ashes. 

9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still 
retain thine integrity ? curse God, and die. 

10 But he said unto her. Thou speakest as 
one of the foolish women speaketh. What ? 
shall we receive good at the hand of God, and 
shall we not receive evil ? In all this did not 
Job sin with his lips. 



There are bitter mercies and sweet mercies ; some mercies God gives in 
wine, some in wormwood. 

"Ah! what are we that we should set ourselves against any dealing that 
it may please our blessed Father to visit upon us? Suppose our expecta- 
tions are all unrealized ; suppose our life does seem well nigh to be obliter- 



295 



ated like the track of a caravan on the desert ; suppose our cherished hopes 
are all crumbled and shriveled, like paper in the flame, and destroyed — what 
then ? Has God taken from you those whom you love ? Has He taken 
the lamp out of your house ? Has He taken the delight out of your days ? 
Has He taken the satisfaction out of your years ? What then ? Are you 
too good to suffer ? Have you a warrant which would clear you from the 
experience which has belonged to all men that have lived since the first 
birth on earth, and which will belong to all men that will live hereafter ? 
Christ was a man of sorrows, and was continually acquainted with grief. 
He was the great Sufferer ; and can you stand and look upon Him, and say : 
' I do not deserve to suffer ; I ought not thus to be grieved and disap- 
pointed ? ' " — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth 
every son whom He receiveth. — Heb. xii. 6. 

" Greatest proof of love is this, that I press near the inmost heart of Him 
I love, and am permitted with Him to bear some of His own heart's sorrow. 
I can be called by His name when I drink the cup with Him, and sorrow 
for sin with Him. 

" Bitter is it? Yes, bitter; yet not so bitter as to be denied His presence. 
Sweet is pain itself when it knits into closer sympathy my Love and me ! 
Oh, the unfolding, the uniting, the ennobling, the transforming power of. 
love ! Eternity will discover nothing better than this. God the Father, 
when He searched for His best gift to offer to His children, gave them 
Love." 

SATURDAY. 

Work. — James ii. 14-26. 



14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though 
a man say he hath faith, and have not works ? 
can faith save him ? 

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and des- 
titute of daily food, 

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in 
peace, be ye warmed and filled ; notwithstand- 
ing ye give them not those things which are 
needful to the body ; what doth it profit ? 

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is 
dead, being alone. 

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and 
I have works : shew me thy faith without thy 
works, and I will shew thee my faith by my 
works. 

19 Thou belie vest that there is one God; 
thou doest well : the devils also believe, and 
tremble. 



20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that 
faith without works is dead? 

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by 
works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon 
the altar ? 

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his 
works, and by works was faith made perfect ? 

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which 
saith, Abraham believed God, and it was im- 
puted unto him for righteousness : and he was 
called the Friend of God. 

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is 
justified, and not by faith only. 

25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot 
justified by works, when she had received the 
messengers, and had sent them out another 
way? 

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, 
so faith without works is dead also. 



296 TWENTY-THIRD WEEK. 

True faith is of a working, stirring nature; without good works it is dead 
or dying. A barren Christian is a contradiction in terms and an anomaly 
in the spiritual vineyard. 

" Flatter not thyself in thy faith to God, if thou wantest charity for thy 
neighbor; and think not thou hast charity for thy neighbor, if thou wantest 
faith to God : where they are not both together, they are both wanting ; 
they are both dead if once divided." — Quarks. 

" It is as impossible that a spiritual life should be without acts consonant 
to it as that the sun should appear in the firmament without darting out its 
beams. All life is accompanied with natural heat, which is the bond of it, 
whereby the body is enabled to a vigorous motion. The new creature is 
not a marble statue or a transparent piece of crystal, which has purity but 
not life. It is a living spirit, and therefore active." — Charnock. 

" As the apple is not the cause of the apple-tree, but the fruit of it, even 
so good works are not the cause of our salvation, but a sign and a fruit of 
the same." — Cawdray. 

Closet Promise. — Who will render to every man according to his deeds : 
to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor 
and immortality, eternal life. — Rom. ii. 6, 7. 

The crown of patience cannot be received where there has been no suf- 
fering. If thou refusest to suffer, thou refusest to be crowned ; but if thou 
wish to be crowned, thou must fight manfully and suffer patiently. Without 
labor none can obtain rest, and without contending there can be no con- 
quest. — Thomas A'Kenipis. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Behold, I stand at the door, and knock ; if any one 
hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with 
him, and he with Me. — Rev. iii. 20. 

Weekly Proverb. — He that riseth late, must trot all day, and shall 
scarce overtake his business at night. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— CHRIST'S WONDERFUL WORDS. 

Sjmday. — Wise and Foolish Virgins. — Matt. xxv. 1-13. 
Monday. — Wise and Foolish House-Builders. — Matt. vii. 21-29. 
Tuesday. — The Rich Fool. — Luke xii. 1 3-2 1. 
Wednesday. — A Good Neighbor. — Luke x. 25-37. 
Thursday. — A Rich Man and a Beggar. — Luke xvi. 14-31. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



297 



Friday. — Idlers in the Market Place. — Matt. xx. l-l6. 
Saturday. — The Pound and Napkin. — Luke xix. 1 1-28. 



HOW TO DO IT. 



The fields are all white, 

And the reapers are few ; 
We children are willing, 
But what can we do 
To work for our Lord in His harvest ? 

Our hands are so small 

And our words are so weak, 

We cannot teach others; 
How then shall we seek 
To work for our Lord in His harvest ? 



We'll work by our prayers. 

By the pennies we bring, 
By small self-denials — 

The least little thing 
May work for our Lord in His harvest. 

Until, by and by, 

As the years pass at length, 
We, too, may be reapers, 
And go forth in strength 
To work for our Lord in His harvest. 

—Selected. 



Thou shalt not covet. — Ex. xx. 17. 

My dear children, I am going to talk to you to-day about a very great sin — 
that of Covetonsness. To covet means to wish for something that belongs to 
another. Sometimes we see a company of children standing at the window 
of a jeweller's store. One says : " Oh ! I wish I had that gold watch ! " 
Another says: " I wish I had that beautiful diamond ring!" Now, those 
children do not think what they are doing. Wishing means coveting. This 
wishing, or coveting, if it be allowed to remain, will grow up into a desire 
to get the thing coveted. If the child cannot get it in a right way, he will 
try to get it in a wrong way. It will make him a thief or robber. Now, 
you must remember, when you allow yourselves to covet, or to wish for any- 
thing that belongs to another, you are guilty of the sin of breaking the 
tenth commandment. A Sunday-school teacher asked her boys which of 
the commandments was the hardest to keep. One mentioned one, and an- 
other a different one ; till at last a boy about twelve years old said : " The 
last is the hardest." " Why is it so, my boy?" she asked. " Because, for 
one who is poor to see another possessing a great deal of money, and a great 
many clothes, and nmch cattle and rice, without wishing for some of them, 
is very hard." That is so, children ; but God can help you keep it ! 



GOING TO LABOR. 

Never be ashamed to work; never be above labor. During the Revolu- 
tion a conamander of a little squad was giving orders relative to a stick of 
timber they were trying to raise to the top of some military works. The 
timber went up hard. An officer, not in military dress, was passing, and 
asked the commander why he did not take hold and help a little. The lat- 
ter, astonished, said : " Sir, I am a corporal ! " " You are, are you ? " re- 
plied the officer ; " I was not aware of that." Upon this, he got down off 
his horse and lifted till the sweat stood in drops on his forehead ; and, when 
finished, turning to the commander, he said : " Mr. Corporal, when you have 
another such job, and have not men enough, send for your commander-in- 
chief, and I will come and help you a second time." The corporal was 
thunderstruck. It was General Washington. 

The path of labor is the path to true success. And this path is open to 
all. You do not need to have genius, or any other great gift. When a lady 
once asked Turner, the celebrated English painter, what his secret was, he 
replied : " I have no secret, madame, but hard work." John Freadley says : 
" My observations through life satisfy me that at least nine-tenths of those 
most successful in business start in life without any reliance except upon 
their own heads and hands — hoe their own row from the jump." 

Remember one thing more — whatever yoii do, do it ivell. Downright 
painstaking always pays. I heard of a little girl who wanted to join the 
church. When the pastor asked her : " What makes you think you are a 
Christian ? " her answer was : " 'Cause I sweeps under the mats, and behind 
the doors." She had always slighted her work before. Now she remem- 
bered that Jesus wanted her to do everything well, and because she loved 
Him she tried to do so. 

(298) 




GOL\G TO LABOR. 
299 



TW^ENTY-FOURTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — ^As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. — Josh. xxiv. 15. 



Sweet is the smile of Home ; the mutual look 
Where the hearts are of each other sure ; 



Sweet all the joys that crowd the household 
nook, 
The haunt of all affections pure. 

—John Keble. 



Oh, banish the tears of children ! Continual rains upon the blossoms are 
h urtful. — Richter. 

The road to home happiness is over the stepping-stones which lie above 
the brook of daily discomforts. — Selected. 

I think it must somewhere be vi'ritten that the virtues of mothers shall 
occasionally be visited on their children, as well as the sins of fathers. — 
Dickens. 

Most men call fretting a minor fault, a foible, and not a vice. There is 
no vice, except drunkenness, which can so utterly destroy the peace, the 
happiness of a home. — Helen Hunt. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Saviour's Golden Rule. — Matt. vii. 



-14. 



1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye 
shall be judged ; and with what measure ye 
mete, it shall be measured to you again. 

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is 
in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the 
beam that is in ihine own eye ? 

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother. Let 
me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, 
behold, a beam is in thine own eye ? 

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out 
of thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see 
clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's 
eye. 

6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, 
neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest 
they trample them under their feet, and turn 
again and rend you. 

7 ^ Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and 
ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened 
unto you : 



8 For every one that asketh receiveth ; and 
he that seeketh findeth ; and to him thatknock- 
eth it shall be opened. 

g Or what man is there of you, whom if his 
son ask bread, will he give him a stone ? 

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a 
serpent ? 

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give 
good gifts unto your children, how much more 
shall your Father which is in heaven give good 
things to them that ask him ? 

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would 
that men should do to you, do ye even so to 
them ; for this is the law and the prophets. 

13 ^ Enter ye in at the strait gate : for wide 
is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth 
to destruction, and many there be which go in 
thereat : 

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is 
the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there 
be that find it. 



Of course it is impossible not to form some opinion of those about us. 
The duty of brotherly admonition cannot be discharged if we refuse to 

(301) 



302 



TWENTY -FOURTH WEEK. 



form moral judgments. But we are not to entertain, as a settled, deliberate 
conviction, an unfavorable opinion of another. We are to give him the 
benefit of the doubt, if there be any. What you feel would be right for 
you in his place, that concede ye to him in his own pla^e. Make his case 
your own, and think what you could then fairly demand. A little boy once 
went home to his mother and said, " Mother, sister and I went out into the 
garden, and we were calling about, and there was some boy mocking us." 
" How do you mean, Johnny?" said the mother. " Why," said the child, 
" I was calling out, * Ho ! ' and this boy said ' Ho ! ' So I said to him, ' Who 
are you ? ' and he answered, ' Who are you ? ' I said, ' What is yojar name ? ' 
he said, ' What is your name? ' And I said to him, ' Why don't you show 
yourself? ' he said, ' Show yourself? ' And I jumped over the ditch, and I 
went into the woods, and I could not find him, and I came back and said, 
'If you don't come out I will punch your head ! ' and he said, ' I will punch 
your head ! ' " So his mother said, "Ah, Johnny ! if you had said, ' I love 
you,' he would have said, ' I love you.' If you had said,' Your voice is 
sweet,' he would have said, ' Your voice is sweet.' Whatever you said to 
him, he would have said back to you." And the mother also said, " Now, 
Johnny, when you grow and get to be a man, whatever you say to others 
they will, by and by, say back to you." And his mother took him to that 
old text in the Scripture, " With what measure ye mete, it shall be meas- 
ured to you again." 



Closet Promise. 

-John xvi. 24. 



-Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 



Oh, for a stronger faith in God's promises to hear and to answer prayer ! 
Whatsoever we shall ask, be it little things or great, we shall receive them. 
Not always, perhaps, just in the way we have asked for them, but if we 
ivatch as well as pray, we shall find the answer. And not only at morning 
and at night, but all through the day let my heart be asking blessings at 
God's Hand. " We are coming to a Kwg," " Large petitions let us bring." 

MONDAY. 

The Blessings of Christ's Kingdom. — Isa. xxxii. 



1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, 
and princes shall rule in judgment. 

2 And a man shall be as a hiding place from 
the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as 
rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of 
a great rock in a weary land. 

3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be 



dim, and the ears of them that hear shall 
hearken. 

4 The heart also of the rash shall understand 
knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers 
shall be ready to speak plainly. 

5 The vile person shall be no more called 
liberal, nor the churl said (o 6e bountiful. 



6 For the vile person will speak villany, and 
his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypoc- 
risy, and to utter error against the Lord, to 
make empty the soul of the hungry ; and he 
will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 

7 The instruments also of the churl are evil : 



^AY. 3U.3 

he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the pour 
with lying words, even when the needy speak- 
eth right. 

8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and 
by liberal things shall he stand. 



Christ is the " hiding place from the wind," the " covert from the tempest ; " 
the " Great Rock " in a weary land. This is one of the most beautiful and 
comprehensive presentations of Christ to be found in the Scriptures. He 
hides them in the cleft of the rock till danger be past. He shelters them 
as a hen does her brood, when the tempest rages. He defends them when 
assailed by temptation, and covers their defenceless heads in the day of 
battle. Fleeing to this Refuge, they find ample protection, and are made to 
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. No " wind " can blight them there ; 
no " tempest " disturb the serenity of their souls. Almighty love is their 
refuge ; incarnate mercy is their solace, life and repose. 

"The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand" 
(verse 8). 

" In spite of all the fortune, of all the might, of all the malice in the 
world, the liberal man will ever be rich, for God's providence is his estate ; 
God's wisdom and power are his defence ; God's love and favor are his 
reward ; God's word is his assurance ; who hath said it, that ^He whicli giveih 
to the poor shall not lack', no vicissitude therefore of things can surprise Him, 
or find Him unfurnished ; no disaster can impoverish Him ; no adversity 
can overwhelm Him ; He hath a certain reserve against all times and occa- 
sions ; he that 'deviseth liberal things, by liberal tilings shall he stand.''"— 
Barroiv. 

Closet Promise. — Thou art my hiding place ; Thou shalt preserve me 
from trouble ; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. — 
Psalm xxxii. 7. 

Is that word for me ? Indeed it is. No one has a better right to claim 
it in Christ Jesus. All that was implied in it as it came from the heart of 
the Psalmist is mine. 

TUESDAY. 

The King in Zion. — Psalm xlviii. 



1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised 
in the city of our God, in the mountain of his 
holiness. 

2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole 
earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, 
the city of the great King. 



3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge. 

4 For, lo, the kings were assembled, they 
passed by together. 

5 Tliey saw il, niiit so they marvellfl ; llifv 
were troubled, cff/^/ halted awny. 



304 



TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK. 



6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, 
as of a woman in travail. 

7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with 
an east wind. 

8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the 
city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God : 
God will establish it for ever. Selah. 

9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, 
O God, in the midst of thy temple. 

10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy 



praise unto the ends of the earth : thy right 
hand is full of righteousness. 

11 Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters 
of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. 

12 Walk about Zion, and go round about 
her: tell the towers thereof. 

13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her 
palaces ; that ye may tell it to the generation 
following. 

14 For this God is our God for ever and ever : 
he will be our guide even unto death. 



Thi.s Psalm is especially in honor of the Lord and the city dedicated to 
His worship. How great Jehovah is essentially none can conceive. " There 
was no room for the whole of God in Paradise, there is no room for Him 
in His law, no room for Him in the heaven of angels; in the Church only 
is there room for all His perfections, for a triune Jehovah." Great every- 
where, He is peculiarly great here. 

He is great there, and should be greatly praised there. "According to 
His nature should His worship be ; it cannot be too constant, too laudatory, 
too earnest, too reverential, too sublime. There is none like the Lord, and 
there should be no praises like His praises." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

" This God is our God for ever and ever" What a portion, then, is that of 
the believer ! The landlord cannot say of his fields, These are mine for ever 
and ever. The king cannot say of his crown, This is mine for ever and ever. 
These possessions shall soon change masters ; these possessors shall soon 
mingle with the dust, and even the graves they shall occupy may not long 
be' theirs ; but it is the singular, the supreme happiness of every Christian 
to say, or to have a right to say, " This glorious God, with all His divine 
perfections, is my God, for ever and ever, and even death itself shall not 
separate me from His love." — George Burder. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of 
my cup: Thou maintainest my lot. — Psalm xvi. 5. 

So He covers all my present and future needs. My " inheritance " relates 
to the future, " my cup " to my present daily supplies, " my lot " to all con- 
ditions of my earthly life. So that my happiness is in Him alone. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Intervening Cloud. — Ex. xiv. 13-31. 



13 ^ And Moses said unto the people, Fear 
ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the 
Lord, which he will shew to you to-day : for 
the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye 
shall see ihem again no more for ever. 



14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall 
hold your peace. 

15 ^ And the Lord said unto Moses, Where- 
fore criest thou unto me ? speak unto the chil- 
dren of Israel, that they go forward : 



f- " — : — ™ __„___ — _______ . . .. , , 

m 

i fr -'i- • ^-: »r„ -■ ■, , -_ — ,. - I ., . _ . . _- » 



DRIVING OUT THE. MONEY-CHANGERS. 

My house shall be called the house of prayer, but- ye have made it a den off 

thieves-. — Matt, xxi; 13. 

306 



WEDNESDAY. 



307 



16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out i 
thine hand over the sea, and divide it; and the | 
children of Israel shall go on dry ground through i 
the midst of the sea. 

17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts j 
of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them : | 
and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and I 
upon all his hosts, upon his chariots, and upon \ 
his horsemen. 

18 And the Eg)'ptians shall know that I(?wthe 
Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pha- 
raoh, upon his chariots and upon his horsemen. 

19 "^ And the Angel of God u hich went be- 
fore the camp of Israel, removed and went be- 
hind them ; and the pillar of the cloud went 
from before their face, and stood behind them : ' 

20 And it came between the camp of the 
Egyptians and the camp of Israel ; and it was a ! 
cloud and dai-kness to them, but it gave light by ; 
night to these : so that the one came not near the : 
other al] the night. I 

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over 
the sea ; and the Lord caused the sea to go 
hack by a strong east wind all that night, and | 
made the sea dry land, and the waters were di- I 
vided. 

22 And the children of Israel went into the 
midst of the sea upon the dry ground : and the 
waters were a wall unto them on their right 
hand, and on their left. 

23 11" And the Egj'ptians pursued, and went in 
after them to the midst of the sea, e7>en all 
Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 



24 And it came to pass, that in the morning 
watch the Lord looked unto the host of the 
Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the 
cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that 
they drave them heavily : so that the Egyptians 
said. Let us flee from the face of Israel ; for the 
Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. 

26 Tl And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch 
out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may 
come again upon the Egyptians, upon their 
chariots, and upon their horsemen. 

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over 
the sea, and the sea returned to his strength 
when the morning appeared ; and the Egyptians 
fled against it ; and the Lord overthrew the 
Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 

28 And the waters returned, and covered the 
chariots, and the horsemen, afid all the host of 
Pharaoh that came into the sea after them ; 
there remained not so much as one of them. 

29 But the children of Israel vv'alked upon 
dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters 
were a wall unto them on their right hand, and 
on their left. 

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out 
of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw 
the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. 

31 And Israel saw that great work which the 
Lord did upon the Egyptians : and the people 
feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and 
his servant Moses. 



The two hosts were encamped near to each other. Only a cloud inter- 
vened between them — but such a cloud! "And just such a cloud, though 
unseen, now separates those who are in the camp of the Lord from those 
who are in the camp of the enemy. It is black toward the defiant foes of 
God — glorious toward those who are His true Israelites. On the one side 
it is threatening with God's wrath — on the other, beaming with God's favor. 
There is stumbling on the one side — clearness of vision upon the other. To 
those who are willing to acknowledge Him, God reveals a path of safety 
that shines more and more unto the perfect day — to those who make war 
against Him, there is a path of trouble, of uncertainty, and of final, irreme- 
diable anguish. It makes a great difference upon which side of the cloud 
one chooses to be ! " 

" We have the same divine guidance, if we will ; in sober reality we have 
God's presence ; and waiting hearts which have ceased from self-will may re- 
ceive leading as real as ever the pillar gave to Israel. God's providence 
does still shape our paths, and God's Spirit will direct us within, and God's 
word will counsel us. If we will wait and watch we shall not be left undi- 
rected. It is wonderful how much practical wisdom about the smallest per- 



308 



T W E N T Y - F O U R T H WEEK. 



plexities of daily life comes to men who keep both their feet and their 
wishes still until providence — or as the world prefers to call it, ' circum- 
stances ' — clears a path for them. No doubt in all our lives there come 
times when we seem to have been brought into a blind alley, and cannot see 
where we are to get out ; but it is very rare indeed that we do not see one 
step in advance, the duty which lies next to us. And be sure of this, that if 
we are content to see but one step at a time, and take it, we shall find our 
way made plain. The river winds, and often we seem on a lake without an 
exit. Then is the time to go half-speed, and doubtless, when we get a little 
farther, the overlapping hills on either bank will part, and the gorge will 
open out. We do not need to see it a mile off; enough if we see it when 
we are close upon it. 

" Do not seek to outrun God's guidance, to see what you are to do a year 
hence, or to act before you are sure what is His will. Do not let your 
wishes get in advance of the pillar and the ark, and you will be kept from 
many a mistake, and led into a region of deep peace. Our blunders mostly 
come from letting our wishes interpret our duties, or hide from us plain in- 
dications of unwelcome tasks. No doubt sometimes even docile hearts 
make mistakes, but no man who has not tried it would conceive how many 
of the highest results of practical wisdom are secured by the simple in heart, 
whose only skill is to wait on the Lord and be guided by him."— Alexander 
Maclaren, D.D. 



Closet Promise. 

xviii. 28. 



-The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. — Psalm 



The following piece of poetry is entitled " In The Tunnel : ' 



My little son 
Was troubled in the darkness, and he cried ; 

As we sped on 
I felt him nestle nearer to my side ; 
Soon, hushed and calm, his hand in mine he 

laid, 
And whispered softly, " Now I'm not afraid." 

I sat and thought, 
I had been troubled in the dark — had cried — 

Not trusted as I ought. 
Yet had not I long since drawn near His side ? 



Was not my hand within my Saviour's laid ? 
Why had I been so troubled and afraid ? 

We flashed into the light ; 
My little son, his fright and trouble o'er, 
His countenance all bright, 
Cried gayly, " It is lighter than before ! " 
And I smiled back, my fear and trouble o'er ; 
" Yes, yes," I cried, " much lighter than 
before ! " 

—E. H. Moore. 



THURSDAY. 

God's Mercy. — Lam. iii. 22-41. 



22 \ It is of the Lord's mercies that we are 
not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 

23 They are new every morning : great is 
thy faithfulness. 



24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul ; 
therefore will I hope in him. 

25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for 
him, to the soul that ^eeketh bim. 



THURvSDAY. 



309 



26 // is good that a man should both hope 
and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord. 

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke 
in his youth. 

28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, be- 
cause he hath borne it upon him. 

29 He putteth his mouth in the dust ; if so be 
there may be hope. 

30 He giveth )iis cheek to him that smiteth 
him : he is filled full with reproach. 

31 F"or tlie Lord will not cast off for ever: 

32 But though he cause grief, yet will he 
have compassion according to the multitude of 
his mercies. 

33 For he doth not afflict willingly, nor 
grieve the children of men. 



34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners 
of the earth. 

35 To turn aside the right of a man before 
the face of the Most High. 

36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord 
approveth not. 

37 \ Who is he thai saith, and it cometh to 
pass, 7vhen the Lord commandeth it not. 

38 Out of the mouth of the Most High pro- 
ceedeth not evil and good? 

39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, 
a man for the punishment of his sins ? 

40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn 
again to the Lord. 

41 Let us lift up our heart with o«r hands 
unto God in the heavens. 



" Thei-e is nothing more wonderful than God's forbearance with sinners. 
Their foul deeds are all done in His sight ; their vile utterances are all 
spoken in His hearing; their sins are utterly offensive to Him; they fill Him 
with disgust, and loathing, and anger ; and yet, though He has all power, 
and could crush them in a moment, He spares them ! Nay, He does them 
good ; He causes new mercies to descend upon them every day ; and when 
at last He does proceed to punish them for their transgressions, He does so 
with reluctance and regret; it is with tears that He pronounces the sentence 
of their doom." — R. A. Bertram. 

" God does not willingly afflict the children of men." He seems to share 
in the suffering, while He inflicts it ; and to feel the very pain of His own 
blows, while they fall heavy upon the poor sinner. Judgment is called 
God's " strange work ; " a work that He has no proneness to, nor finds any 
complacency in ; and therefore, whensoever He betakes Himself to it, we 
may be confident that it is not for the sake of the work itself, but that He 
has some secret, overruling design of love, which He is to compass after an 
unusual, extraordinary way. 

Closet Promise. — It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, 
because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is 
Thy faithfulness. — Lam. iii. 22-23. 

Fresh mercies demand fresh sottgs. We should have a song for every 
day, for the Divine mercies are new every morning, and the soul's orchestra 
finds daily employ. H^ppy, indeed, is the soul ever attuned to praise. 
David said, in regard \.o prayer, " Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I 
pray, and cry aloud : and He shall hear my voice," — but in regard to praise 
he said : " Seven times a day do I praise Thee, because of Thy righteous 
judginents." The whole day is crowned with divine mercy, and the whole 
day should be full of praise. 



310 



TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK. 



FRIDAY. 

'A Threefold Engagement." 



-Psalm cxvi. 



1 I love the Lord, because he hath heard 
my voice and my supplications. 

2 Because he liath inclined his ear unto me, 
therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 

3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and 
the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found 
trouble and sorrow. 

4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord ; 
O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, 
our God is merciful. 

6 The Lord preserveth the simple : I was 
brought low, and he helped me. 

7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul : for the 
Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. 

8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, 
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 

9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of 
the living. 

10 I believed, therefore have I spoken : I was 
greatly afflicted : 



1 1 I said in my haste, All men are liars. 

12 What shall I render unto the Lord for 
all his benefits toward me ? 

13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call 
upon the name of the Lord. 

14 I will pay my vows unto the Lord now 
in the presence of all his people. 

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the 
death of his saints. 

16 O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I ain thy 
servant, and the son of thine handmaid : thou 
hast loosed my bonds. 

1 7 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks- 
giving, and will call upon the name of the 
Lord. 

18 I will pay my vows unto the Lord now 
in the presence of all his people, 

19 In the courts of the Lord's house, in the 
midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the 
Lord. 



" Personal love fostered by a person experience of redemption is the 
theme of this Psalin, and in it we see the redeemed answered when they 
pray — preserved in time of trouble, resting in their God, walking at large, 
sensible of their obligations, conscious that they are not their own, but 
bought with a price, and joining with all the ransomed company to sing 
hallelujahs unto God." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" This Psalm is a threefold engagement of the Psalmist unto thanksgiving 
unto God for His mercy unto him, and in particular for some notable delivery 
of him from death, both bodily and spiritual. The first engagement is, that 
he shall, out of love, have recourse unto God by prayer, verses i and 2 ; the 
reasons and motives whereof are set down becau.se of his former deliverances, 
3-8 ; the second engagement is to a holy conversation, verse 9 ; and the 
motives and reasons are given in verses 10-13 ; the third engagement is to 
continual praise and service, and specially to pay those vows before the 
church which he had made in days of sorrow, the reasons whereof are given 
inverses 14-19." — David Dickson. 

Closet Promise. — I am Thine. — Psalm cxix. 94. 



This is a wonderful stone for the sling of faith. It will slay any Goliath 
of Temptation, if we only sling it out boldly and determinately at him. 
When self tempts us (and we know how often that is), let it be met with 



" Not your own," and then lool 
— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



T'RinAY. 811 

straight away to Jesus with " I am Thine." 



SATURDAY. 

Constraining Love. — 2 Cor. v. i 



1 1 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, 
we persuade men ; but we are made manifest 
unto God ; and I trust also are made manifest in 
your consciences. 

12 For we commend not ourselves again unto 
you, but give you occasion to glory on our be- 
half, that ye may have somewhat to answer 
ihem which glory in appearance, and not in 
heart. 

13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is 
to God : or whether we be sober, it is for your 
cause. 

14 For the love of Christ constraineth us ; 
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, 
then were all dead ; 

15 And that he died for all, that they which 
live should not henceforth live unto themselves, 
but unto him which died for them, and rose 
again. 

16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man 



after the flesh : yea, though we have known 
Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know 
we him no more. 

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a 
new creature : old things are passed away ; be- 
hold, all things are become new. 

18 And all things are of God, who hath 
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and 
hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation ; 

19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling 
the world unto himself, not imputing; their tres- 
passes unto them ; and hath committed unto us 
the word of reconciliation. 

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, 
as though God did beseech you by us : we pray 
you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, 
who knew no sin ; that we might be made the 
righteousness of God in him. 



The central thought of this chapter, so full of familiar Scriptures, is the 
first clause of the fourteenth verse : " For the love of Christ constraineth us." 
Paul felt that he spoke as an ambassador of God. That which constrained 
him at times to act with what appeared to be intemperate zeal, and at others 
with what seemed to be too much caution, was the love of Christ. He did 
not mean his love to Christ, but Christ's love for him. He could not resist 
a love like that. And neither could any one else, if that love were at all 
apprehended. 

" The coldness of men toward Him would melt as do snow and ice under 
the rays of a summer's sun, if they once but came under its influence. Just 
as the earth responds to the beams of the summer sun, 'constrained' by 
them to bring forth its plants and flowers, so with the same sweet cornpul- 
sion, which develops all that is best within a man, Paul was 'constrained' by 
the love of Christ. He was not constrained by the love of popular favor ; he 
did not truckle to power ; he did not seek notoriety ; he was actuated solely 
in what he did by the love of Christ. What an immense influence one 
wields when it comes to be understood that that is his governing motive ! " — 
Selected. 



Closet Promise. — Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: 
old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new. — 2 Cor. 
V. 17 



312 



TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK. 



O Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me, 
And all things else recede; 

My heart be daily nearer Thee, 
From sin be daily freed. 

Each day let Thy supporting might 
My weakness still embrace ; 

My darkness vanish in Thy light, 
Thy life my death efface. 

In Thy bright beams which on me fall 
Fade every evil thought; 

That I am nothing, Thou art all, 
I would be daily taught. 



Make this poor self grow les= d less; 

Be Thou my life and aim ; 
O make me daily, through Thy grace, 

More worthy of Thy name. 

Daily more fill with Thee my heairt, 

Daily from self more free ; 
Thou, to whom prayer did strength impart, 

O my prayer hearer be ! 

Let faith in Thee and in Thy might 

My every motive move. 
Be Thou alone my soul's delight. 

My passion and my love. 

—-J. C. Laveter, 1 741. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. — 
John vii. 38. 

Weekly Proverb. — Beware of httle expenses; a small leak will sink a 
great ship. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— EMBLEMS OF JESUS. 

Sunday. — The Light of the World. — John viii. 12-32. 

Monday. — The Way. — John xiv. 1-3 1. 

Tuesday. — The Lily of the Valley. — Song of Solomon ii. 1-17. 

Wednesday. — The Vine. — John xv. 1-27. 

Thursday. — The Bread of Life. — John vi. 27-59. 

Friday. — The Good Shepherd. — John x. 1-2 1. 

Saturday. — The Redeemer. — Isaiah xlix. 13-26. 



HOW JOHNNY-JUMP-UP TURNED INTO A PANSY. 



There was a little boy 
"Whom his mother did employ 

In doing all the errands she could trump up; 

And she sent his feet so nimble 

After scissors, spool, or thimble. 

Till the neighbors always called him Johnny- 
Jump-Up. 



Now this Johnny — little boy, 
Whom his mother did employ, 

Saying, " Johnny, jump up, dear, and fetch the 
tarts, please ! " 

Or, " Run, Johnny, to the spring. 

And a pail of water bring," 

Don't you see he grew to be his mother's heart's- 



Deceive not. — Prov. xxiv. 28. 

I know a little boy who cheats when he plays marbles. When the other 
boys are not looking, he " inches up," or " he shoves." Then when they 
charge him with doing it, he says, " I didn't." Now, children, that boy is 
guilty of two sins : he deceives, for that is what cheating is ; and he tells lies. 
I hope my little boy friends don't do that way. Boys and girls, always be 
honest. Be honest in your plays ; be honest in your work ; be honest in 




SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME. 

And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed 
them. — Mark x. l6. 



THE CHIlvDREN'S CORNER. 313 

your school. In a country school a large class was standing to spell. The 
teacher put a very hard word to the scholar at the head, and he missed it ; 
she passed it to the next, and the next, and so on through the whole class, 
till it came to the last scholar, the smallest of the class, and he spelled it 
right, at least the teacher understood him so ; and he went to the head, 
above seventeen boys and girls, all older than himself. The teacher then 
turned round and wrote the word on the blackboard, so that they might all 
see how it was spelled, and learn it better. But no sooner had she written 

it than the little boy at the head cried, " Oh, I didn't say it so, Miss W ! 

I said e instead of ?; " and he went back to the foot of his own accord. He 
was too lionest to take any credit that did not belong to him. 



JESUS AND LITTLE CHILDREN. 

When Jesus was on earth He showed His love even for the youngest child. 
He was pleased when mothers brought their little children to His feet. 
He took them in His arms; He put His hands on them and blessed them, 
saying, " Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven." And though Jesus now lives in heaven, on 
His bright throne, He stills loves little children. He calls them to come to 
Him by prayer, and by faith, and by love. Some children are naughty. And 
you have no doubt been told that, " If children are naughty, nobody will 
love them." Ah ! but Jesus does. He loves. He pities, even wicked chil- 
dren. And when He speaks of " the children," He doesn't leave one of them 
out. No — He means them all. Some are very poor. Some are blind. 
Some are deaf and dumb. Some are very ill. Some have no parents, no 
home, no food to eat but what they beg from door to door. But Jesus loves 
them — yes, every one — and He says, " Suffer them to come unto Me." 
18 



TWENTY-FIFTH V/EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. — Psalm Ixii. lo. 



Think'st thou the man, whose mansions hold 
The worldling's pride, the miser's gold, 

Obtains a richer prize 
Than he, who in his cot at rest 



Finds heavenly peace a willing guest, 
And bears the earnest in his breast 
Of treasures in the skies ? 

— Airs. L. H. Sigourney. 



Be not proud of riches but afraid of them, lest they be a silver bar to cross 
the way to heaven. You must answer for riches, but riches cannot answer 
for you. — Mason. 

A London merchant wrote down these four rules for his own guidance, 
and embodied them in his practice for fifty years : " If rich, be not too joyftil 
in having; too solicitous in keeping; too anxious in increasing; nor too 
sorrowful in losing." The Lord gave him wealth, and he used it well. — 
Denton's Anecdotes. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Lord God. — rsalm cxv. 



1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but 
unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, atid 
for thy truth's sake. 

2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where 
is now their God ? 

3 But our God is in the heavens : he hath 
done whatsoever he hath pleased. 

4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work 
of men's hands. 

5 They have mouths, but they speak not : 
eyes have they, but they see not : 

6 They have ears, but they hear not : noses 
have they, but tliey smell not : 

7 They have hands, but they handle not : feet 
have they, but they walk not : neither speak 
they through their throat. 

8 They that make them are like unto them ; 
so is every one that trusteth in them. 

9 O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is 
their help and their shield. 



10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord : he 
is their help and their shield. 

1 1 Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord : 
he is their help and their shield. 

12 The Lord hath been mindful of us : he 
will bless us ; he will bless the house of Israel ; 
he will bless the house of Aaron. 

13 He will bless them that fear the Lord, 
both small and great. 

14 The Lord shall increase you more and 
more, you and your children. 

15 Ye are blessed of the Lord which made 
heaven and earth. 

16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the 
Lord's , but the earth hath he given to the chil- 
dren of men. 

17 The dead praise not the Lord, neither 
any that go down into silence. 

18 But we will bless the Lord from this 
time forth and for evermore. Praise the Lord. 



The Psalmist, by the repetition of the words, " Not unto us," " implies 
our natural tendency to self-idolatry, and to magnifying of ourselves, and 
the difficulty of cleansing our hearts from these self-reflections. If it be 
angelical to refuse an undue glory stolen from God's throne, Rev. xxii. 8,9; 
it is diabolical to accept and cherish it. 'To seek our own glory is not 
(314) 



SUNDAY. 



315 



glory,' Prov. xxv. 27. It is vile, and the dishonor of a creature, who, by 
the law of his creation, is referred to another end. So much as we sacrifice 
to our own credit, to the dexterity of our hands, or the sagacity of our wit, 
we detract from God." — Stephen Char?iock. 

" There are many sweet and precious texts of Scripture which are so en- 
deared, and have become so habituated to us, and we to them, that one 
cannot but think we must carry them with us to heaven, and that they will 
form not only the theme of our song, but a portion of our blessedness and 
joy even in that happy home. . . . But if there be one text which more 
especially belongs to all, and which must, I think, break forth from every 
redeemed one as he enters heaven, and form the unwearying theme of eter- 
nity, it is the first verse of this psalm. I am sure that not one of the Lord's 
chosen ones on earth, as he reviews the way by which he has been led, as 
he sees enemy after enemy prostrate before his utter feebleness, and has 
such thorough evidence and conviction that his weakness is made perfect in 
the Lord's strength, but must, from the very ground of his heart, sa)^, 'Not 
unto us, Lord, not laito us, but unto Thy name', be the praise and the glory 
ascribed. And could we see heaven opened — could we hear its glad and 
glorious hallelujahs — could we see its innumerable company of angels, and its 
bands of glorified saints, as they cast their crowns before the throne, we should 
hear as the universal chorus from every lip, 'Not unto us, Lord, not unto 
us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth's sake' " 
— Barton Bonchier. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall 
I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom shall I be afraid ? — 
Psalm xxvii. i. 

Is God for me ? I fear not, though all against j My Friend, the Lord Almighty, and He who 
me rise ! | loves me — God ! 

\Yhen I call on Christ my Saviour, the host of | What enemy shall harm me, though coming as 
evil flies. a flood ? —Paid Gerhardt. 



MONDAY. 

The Christian's Rule of Conduct.— i Cor. x. 14-33. 



14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from 
idolatry. 

15 I speak as to wise men ; judge ye what I 
say. 

16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it 
not the communion of the blood of Christ ? 
The bread which we break, is it not the com- 
munion of the body of Christ ? 

17 For we being many are one bread, and 



one body : for we are all partakers of that one 
bread. 

18 Behold Israel after the flesh ; are not 
they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the 
altar ? 

19 What say I then ? that the idol is any 
thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to 
idols is any thing ? 

20 But I say, that the things which the Gen- 



316 



TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



tiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to 
God: and I would not that ye should have fel- 
lowship with devils. 

21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, 
and the cup of devils : ye cannot be partakers 
of the Lord's table^ and of the table of devils. 

22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy ? are 
we stronger than he ? 

23 All things are lawful for me, but all things 
are not expedient : all things are lawful for me, 
but all things edify not. 

24 Let no man seek his own, but every man 
another's wealth. 

25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that 
eat, asking no question for conscience' sake : 

26 For the earth is the Lord's, and the ful- 
ness thereof. 

27 If any of them that believe not bid you 
to a/east,a.nd ye be disposed to go ; whatsoever 



is set before you, eat, asking no question for 
conscience' sake. 

28 But if any man say unto you. This is of- 
fered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake 
that shewed it, and for conscience' sake ; for 
the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: 

29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of 
the other : for why is my liberty judged of an- 
other man's conscience ? 

30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I 
evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? 

31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or 
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 

32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, 
nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: 

33 Even as I please all men in all things, not 
seeking mine own profit, but t\is profit of many, 
that they may be saved. 



In verse 31 of this chapter we have "The Christian's Rule of Conduct." 

"Everything honors God when it is done for His sake; everything ^/zj'- 
honors Him when any ultimate end is proposed beside His glory." — 
Quesnel. 

"All the water is waste that runs beside the mill; so all thy thoughts 
and words are waste which are not to the glory of God. A bee will not 
sit on a flower where no honey can be sucked ; neither should the Christian 
engage in anything but for his soul's good and God's honor." — Giirttall. 

" You need not go out of your house, or shop, or profession, to do good. 
.... Let no one believe that he is far from the gate of heaven who has 
the opportunities of the household. It is the best place in the world; and 
I do not think that any woman, mother or sister, who spends her life at 
home ministering to the wants of the loved ones there, has any occasion to 
envy those who sit upon thrones and occupy positions of influence. It is a 
sublime sphere. To provide for the family; to prepare their clothes; to 
watch over the little ones ; to perform the duties which belong to domestic 
life, and to do it patiently and humbly, for the sake of Christ and in the 
spirit of benevolence, is glorious." — ff. W. Bcecher. 

Closet Promise. — If ye abide in Me and My words abide in you, ye 
shall ask wiiat ye will, and it shall be done unto you. — ^John xv. 7. 



Abiding in Jesus isn't fixing our attention on Christ, but it is being one 
with Him. And it doesn't make any difference what we are doing, or 
whether we are asleep or awake. A man is abiding just as tnuch when he 
is sleeping for Jesus as when he is awake and working for Jesus. O, it is a 
very sweet thing to have one's mind just resting there! — Rev. jF. Hudson 
Taylor. 



TWENT V-I'IFTH WEEK. 



317 



TUESDAY. 

The Fiery Furnace. — Dan. iii. 13-30. 



13 11 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and 
fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, 
and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men 
before the king. 

14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, 
Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- 
nego ? do not ye serve my gods, nor worship 
the golden image which I have set up? 

15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye 
hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack- 
but, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of 
music, ye fall down and worship the image 
which I have made ; well : but if ye worship 
not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the 
midst of a burning fiery furnace ; and who is 
that God that shall deliver you out of my 
hands ? 

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, an- 
swered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, 
we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 

17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is 
able to deliver us from the burning fiery fur- 
nace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, 
O king. 

18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, 
that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship 
the golden image which thou hast set up. 

ig Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, 
and the form of his visage was changed against 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego : therefore 
he spake, and commanded that they should heat 
the furnace one seven times more than it was 
wont to be heated. 

20 And he commanded the most mighty men 
that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Me- 
shach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into 
the burning fiery furnace. 

21 Then these men were bound in their 
coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their 
other garments, and were cast into the midst of 
the burning fiery furnace. 

22 Therefore because the king's command- 
ment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding 



hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that 
took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, 
and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the 
midst of the burning fiery furnace. 

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was as- 
tonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and 
said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three 
men bound into the midst of the fire? They 
answered and said unto the king. True, O king. 

25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four 
men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and 
they have no hurt ; and the form of the fourth 
is like the Son of God. 

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the 
mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, 
and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
ye servants of the most high God, come forth, 
and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, 
and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the 
fire. 

27 And the princes, governors, and captains, 
and the king's counsellors, being gathered to- 
gether, saw these men, upon whose bodies the 
fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head 
singed, neither were their coats changed, nor 
the smell of fire had passed on them. 

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, 
Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and de- 
livered his servants that trusted in him, and have 
changed the king's word, and yielded their 
bodies, that they might not serve nor worship 
any god, except their own God. 

29 Therefore I make a decree. That every 
people, nation, and language, which speak any 
thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Me- 
shach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, 
and their houses shall be made a dunghill ; be- 
cause there is no other God that can deliver 
after this sort. 

30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Me- 
shach, and Abed-nego, in the province of 

I Babylon. 



Nebuchadnezzar, the idolatrous king of Babylon, made a great image of 
gold, which was set up in a plain of Dura. All the people were commanded 
to fall down and worship it. The three Hebrew children refused to do so. 
For this refusal they were cast into the fire ; but they remain unhurt by it. 
Five things astonished the king as he looked on : i. That there were four 
in the furnace, when they had only ca.st three into it. 2. That they were 
"loose." 3. That they were walking in the niid.st of the fire. 4. That they 



318 



TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



were unhurt. 5. The appearance of the fourth. He likens the form of 
the fourth to "the Son of God," or, more Hterally, to "a son of God." 

Matthew Henry says : "A man has only so much religion as he can show 
in times of trouble." 

" They came out as they went in — except their bonds. How often in 
some furnace of affliction God strikes them off! Their bodies were unhurt — 
their skin not even blistered. Their hair was unsinged, their garments not 
scorched, and even the smell of fire had not passed upon them. And that 
is the way that Christians should come out of all furnace trials — liberated 
from their bonds, but untouched by the flames. And we are glad to say 
that there are some whom we personally know of whom that is true. They 
have been in the very midst of the furnace, walking, as it were, on burning 
coals, and yet, so sweet and radiant are their countenances now, no one 
would suppose that they had ever known what it is to be in sore affliction." 

Closet Promise. — The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of 
trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him. — Nahum i, 7. 



Pain's furnace heat within me quivers, 
God's breath upon the flame doth blow, 

And all my heart in anguish shivers, 
And trembles at the fiery glow ; 

And yet I whisper ; As God will ! 

And in His hottest fire hold still. 

He comes and lays my heart, all heated, 

On the hard anvil, minded so 
In His own fair shape to beat it 

With His great hammer, blow on blow ; 
And yet I whisper : As God will ! 
And at His heaviest blows hold still. 

He takes my softened heart and beats it, 
The sparks fly off at every blow ; 

He turns it o'er and o'er heats it. 
And lets it cool and makes it glow ; 



And yet I whisper : As God will ! 
And in His mighty hand hold still. 



Why should I murmur? For the sorrow 
Thus only longer-lived would be; 

Its end may come, and will, to-morrow. 
When God has done His work in me; 

So I say, trusting : As God will ! 

And, trusting to the end, hold still. 

He kindles for my profit purely 
Affliction's glowing, fiery brand ; 

And all His heaviest blows are surely 
Inflicted by a master hand ; 

So I say, praying: As God will ! 

And hope in Him, and suffer still. 

— From the German. 



WEDNESDAY. 

Wells of Salvation. — Isa. xii 



1 And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I 
will praise thee : though thou wast angry with 
me, thine anger is turned away, and thou com- 
fortedst me. 

2 Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, 
and not be afraid ; for the Lord JEHOVAH is 
my strength and my song ; he also is become 
my salvation. 

3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out 
of the wells of salvation. 



4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the 
Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings 
among the people, make mention that his name 
is exalted. 

5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done ex- 
cellent things; this is known in all the earth. 

6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of 
Zion : for great is the Holy Ona_ of Israel in 
the midst of thee. 



WEDNESDAY. 



319 



A fountain, or a well, in the sacred writings, is an emblem of that which 
produces joy and refreshment; which sustains and cheers. The figure is 
often employed to denote that which supports and refreshes the soul ; which 
sustains man when sinking from exhaustion — as the bubbling fountain or 
well refreshes the weary and fainting pilgrim. It is thus applied to God as 
an overflowing fountain, fitted to supply the wants of all His creatures; and 
to His plan of salvation — the sources of comfort which He has opened in 
the scheme of redeeming mercy to satisfy the wants of the souls of men. 

The water of life is sweet and refreshing, the wells of salvation are deep 
and inexhaustible ; but none can drink save those who drazv. " With joy 
we are to draw water out of the wells of salvation. Faith is the bucket, but 
joy and love are the hands that move it. They are the Aaron and Hur that 
hold up the hands of this Moses. God does not value that man's service 
who accounts not His service a privilege and a pleasure." — Charnock. 

Closet Promise. — The joy of the . Lord is your strength. — Nehemiah 
viii. 10. 

Bishop Bonar says, " With God for my friend, I pass through life in peace. 
He is all to me, and in fellowship with Him I find a joy that overshadows 
all that the world calls by that name." Such is the privilege of those who 
accept the friendship of Him, the very es.sence of whose being is love. 
What higher joy can we conceive than such close communion with the King 
of kings ? What service so delightful as the love-labors we perform for Him 
who says, " I have loved you with an everlasting love ? " 

Let us then come into His presence with joy. " Let the righteous be 
glad; let them rejoice before God; yea, let them exceedingly rejoice," 
remembering the word of Nehemiah, " The joy of the Lord is your strength." 



THURSDAY. 

The Christian's Motive. — Col. iii. 17-25. 



17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do 
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks 
to God and the Father by him. 

18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own 
husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 

19 Husbands, love your wives and be not 
bitter against them. 

20 Children, o\)f^ your parents in all things: 
for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. 

21 Fathers, provoke not your children to 
anger, lest they be discouraged. 

22 Servants, obey in all things your masters 



according to the flesh ; not with eyeservice, as 
menpleasers ; but in singleness of heart, fearing 
God: 

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as 
to the Lord, and not unto men ; 

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall re- 
ceive the reward of the inheritance : for ye 
serve the I>ord Christ. 

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for 
the wrong which he hath done : and there is no 
respect of persons. 



320 



TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



In the lesson for to-day, in verses 17 and 23, we have stated the great 
motive which should inspire every Christian to duty. 

" Have a broader conception of Christian life than that it consists in 
merely saying prayers, singing hymns, and talking to men about their souls. 
These are an important part of Christian duty frequently ; but ah ! there are 
a thousand other things that are essential. There is the beauty of holiness 
as well as the power of holiness. There is the soothing duty as well as the 
rousing duty. There is instruction as well as exhortation. There is prep- 
aration for future duty as well as the execution of present duty. These are 
all parts of one Christian character. Every man should live so broadly that 
day by day he shall find something to do which he wants to do, and which 
he does with appetite. Then other duties which are regular, which press 
themselves upon him, let him do because they are duties. And if he cannot 
do even that, and they are urgent duties, let him do them, whatever the 
motive may be. So he will rise higher and higher toward the true Christian 
plane, which is the plane of spontaneity of involuntary activity, of being and 
doing from the love of that which is essentially true, and beautiful and pure, 
and right, and good." — H. W. Bcecher. 

Closet Promise. — Let your conversation be without covetousness, and 
be content with such things as ye have; for He hath said, I will never leave 
thee, nor forsake thee. — Heb. xiii. 5. 



Dear Lord, this day I would not spend 

In any other place, 
For Thou dost wish me here to-day, 

And resting in Thy grace 
I am content. 

This duty I would not exchange 

For any other task ; 
If only its performance please 



Thee, Lord, 'tis all I ask, 
I am content. 

I care not what may come to me 

Of earthly good or ill ; 
Since where I am and what I do 
Are ordered by thy will, 
I am content. 

— Christine Ware. 



FRIDAY- 
PARABLES ON Prayer. — Luke xviii. 



-14. 



1 And he spake a parable unto them to this 
end, that men ought always to pray, and not to 
faint ; 

2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which 
feared not God, neither regarded man : 

3 And there was a widow in that city ; and 
she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine 
adversary. 

4 And he would not for a while : but after- 
ward he said within himself, Though I fear not 
God, not regard man ; 

5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will 



avenge her, lest by her continual coming she 
weary me. 

6 Andt he Lord said, Hear what the unjust 
judge saith. 

7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, 
which cry day and night unto him, though he 
bear long with them ? 

8 I tell you that he will avenge them speed- 
ily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man 
cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ? 

9 And he spake this parable unto certain 



FRIDAY. 



321 



which trusted in themselves that they were 
righteous, and despised others : 

10 Two men went up into the temple to 
pray ; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publi- 
can. 

1 1 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with 
himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as 
other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 
or even as this publican. 



12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all 
that I possess. 

13 And the publican, st.Tuding afar off, would 
not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but 
smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful 
to me a sinner. 

14 I tell you this man went down to his 
house justified rather \}(\7iX\ the other: for every 
one that exalteth himself shall be abased ; and 
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 



The first parable (vers. 1-8) tta^ches importunity in prayer. Incessant im- 
portunity, in which the desire rises hke a river by obstruction. The element 
of power is faith. If it be small, there is no response. If it increases by 
delay, and at last glows through the night as well as the day, it will exalt to 
the realm where it will have power with God. 

" The busy mother, cumbered with many cares, hears her babe fret for a 
moment and then hush. It is the far away symptoms of hunger. It must 
be nursed, but not yet. The child soon breaks forth with stronger cry, but 
is diverted by some plaything, and the work of the household goes on. 
Now it breaks forth again, and the hurrying mother, completing some labor, 
says, ' Yes, my darling, in a moment' But no ; hunger is in the child's 
stomach ; it grows to pain. He bursts into tears, and with piteous cry and 
uplifted hands the child will take no more neglect. A thrill goes through 
the mother's breast ; she catches up her child, and every want is supplied. 
Shall not God hear and answer His own elect that cry day and night unto 
Him?"—//: W. Beecher. 

The second parable (vers. 9-14) teaches whom the Lord receives. The 
humble prayer the best. 

" You can fill an empty jug with clear water from the spring ; but it would 
be foolishness to bring to the spring a jug already full. The Lord has no 
blessing for the heart that is full of haughtiness ; that He reserves for the 
heart emptied of self It is the best filled stalk of corn that bends its head 
the lowliest." — Sunday-School Times. 

Closet Promise. — While they are yet speaking, I will hear. — Isa. Ixv. 24. 



Therefore the soul that begins to offer itself to Him, though overwhelmed 
with a sense of its own unworthiness and the meanness of its love, may yet 
say : Lord, I am ashamed of this gift I bring Thee ; yet because Thou 
callest for it, such as it is, here it is. My heart and all the love I have I 
offer unto Thee; and had I ten thousand times more, it should all be Thine. 
My loving of Thee adds nothing to Thee, but it makes me happy ; and 



322 



T W E N T Y - F I F T H W E K K . 



though the love and the heart I offer Thee is infinitely too little for Thee, 
yet there is nothing besides Thee enough for it. — Archbishop Leighton, 



SATURDAY. 

The Royal Wine. — Sol. Song i. 



1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon's. 

2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his 
mouth : for thy love is better than wine. 

3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments 
thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore 
do the virgins love thee. 

4 Draw me, we will run after thee : the 
King hath brought me into his chambers : we 
will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remem- 
ber thy love more than wine : the upright love 
thee. 

5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of 
Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains 
of Solomon. 

6 Look not upon me, because I am black, 
because the sun hath looked upon me: my 
mother's children were angry with me; they 
made me the keeper of the vineyards ; but mine 
o\\ n vineyard have I not kept. 

7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, 
where thou feedest, where thou makest thy 
flock to rest at noon : for why should I be as 
one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy com- 
panions? 



8 ^ If thou know not, O thou fairest among 
women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the 
flock, and feed thy kids beside ihe shepherds' 
tents. 

9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a 
company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. 

10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jew- 
els, thy neck with chains of gold. 

1 1 We will make thee borders of gold with 
studs of silver. 

12 \ While the King sitteth at his table, my 
spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof 

13 A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved 
unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my 
breasts. 

14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of 
camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi. 

15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, 
thou art fair ; thou hast doves' eyes. 

16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, 
pleasant : also our bed is green. 

17 The beams of our house are cedar, and 
our rafters of fir. 



In this chapter we have set forth the Church's love unto Christ. The 
song of songs is the unchanging, everlasting love of God in Christ. 

''Let him kiss me ivith the kisses of his mouth." And what are the kisses 
of Jesus but the manifestation of Himself to His people? Old Testament 
saints longed for this blessing, and New Testament believers live by the 
same faith in the enjoyment of it. The cause is most evident indeed, for the 
love of Jesus passeth knowledge. Shall we not then join in this sweet 
Scripture, and say, as the Church did : " Let Jesus kiss me with the kisses 
of his mouth ? " Oh, then, with the Church, let us cry out as she did : 
" Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou 
makest thy flock to rest at noon : for why should I be as one that turneth 
aside by the flocks of thy companions ? " "Thy love is better than zuine." 
" Wine is the symbol of earthly joy ; and who that has had but one sip of 
the love of Christ does not know this ' royal wine,' this true ' wine of the 
kingdom,' to be better than the best joy that the world can give ? How 
much more, then, when deeper and fuller draughts are the daily portion, as 
we 'follow on to know ' the love 'which passeth knowledge!' It is the 



SATURDAY 



323 



privilege not of a favored few, but of ' all saints,' to comprehend something 
of what is incomprehensible." — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will 
betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving- 
kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness : 
and thou shalt know the Lord. — Hos. ii. 19. 



The Master said, " Thou gavest me no kiss.' 
Was e'er reproof more tender than was this 
To the self-righteous Simon in his pride, 
For act of common courtesy denied ? 
"But lo, this woman with a service sweet, 
Anoints, and ceases not to kiss my feet." 

No kiss ! I think on many busy days, 
I toil in life, amid its varied ways ; 
I speak to Christ, yes, many times a day; 
But do not stop my weary head to lay 



Upon His breast. His tender smile to greet. 
And kiss my loving Saviour, as is meet. 

He who to duties stern for us did bow, 

Craved earthly love like this ; then why not 

now? 
Return, my soul, and lean upon His breast. 
Loving and being loved is sweetest rest. 
Deem it an honor worth a life to meet, 
If thou mayst only clasp and kiss His feet. 

—S. M. Parker. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. — Psalm 
Ixxxi. 10. 

Weekly Proverb. — God helps them that help themselves. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— EMBLEMS OF JESUS. 

Stinday. — Chiefest Among Ten Thousand. — Song of Solomon v. 1-16. 

Monday. — The Shadow of a Great Rock. — Isaiah xxxii. 1-20. 

Tuesday. — As a Mediator. — Hebrews xii. 18-29. 

Wednesday. — As a Physician. — Luke v. 27-39. 

Thursday. — As a Prophet. — Luke xxiv. 13-53. 

Friday. — As a King. — John xii. 1-19. 

Saturday. — As the Tree of Life. — Revelation xxii. 1-2 1. 



THE CLOSE-FISTED ECONOMIST. 



Dick and Edward and little Joe 

Sat in a corner in a row ; 

They saw their patient mother go 

On ceaseless errands to and fro ; 

They saw that her form was bent and thin, 

Her temples gray, her cheeks sunk in ; 

They saw the quiver of lip and chin, 



And then with wrath he could not smother 
Outspoke the youngest, frailest brother : 
" You talk of savin' wood an' ile, 
An' tea an' sugar all the while, 
But you never talk of saving mother ! " 

— Selected. 



Do that which is honest. — 2 Cor. xiii. 7. 

A gentleman jumping from an omnibus in New York lost hi 



pocket- 



324 TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK. 

book. In a little while he discovered his loss, and hastily returned, inquiring 
of every one he met if a pocket-book had been found. Meeting a little girl 
often years of age he made the same inquiry. She asked, " What kind of a 
pocket-book?" He described it. Then unfolding her apron, " Is this it?" 
"Yes, that is mine; come into this store with me." The gentleman exam- 
ined the papers. " That is all right," said he ; " fifteen notes of a thousand 
dollars each. Take this note of a thousand dollars as a reward for your 
honesty." " No," said the little girl, " I cannot take it. I have been taught 
in Sunday-school not to keep what is not mine, and my parents would think 
I had stolen it." " Take me to your parents then ! " She took him to her 
humble home. The gentleman not only gave the gift, but provided work 
for the father. Dear children, it always pays to be honest. The Rev. Dr. 
Sargent states that during the days of slavery, a smart, active colored boy 
was put up for sale. A kind master who pitied his condition went to him, 
and said, " If I buy you, will you be honest ? " The boy, with a look that 
baffled description, replied, " I will be honest whether you buy me or not." 
That was true honesty ! 



TVS^ENTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name : ask, and ye shall receive, 
that your joy may be full. — ^John xvi. 24. 



Reality! Reality! 
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou art to me. 
From the spectral mists and driving clouds, 
From the shifting shadows and phantom crowds 
From unreal words and unreal lives, 



Where truth with falsehood freely strives, 
From the passings away, the chance and chang 
Flickerings — vanishings — swift and strange, 
I turn to my glorious rest in Thee, 
Who art the grand Reality. — Selected. 



The soul is the life of the body. Faith is the life of the soul. Christ is the 
life of faith. — Flavel. 

Every step toward Christ kills a doubt. Every thought, word and deed 
for Him carries you away from discouragement. — T. L. Cnyler. 

When you are reading a book in a dark room, and come to a difficult 
part, you take it to a window and get more light. So take your Bible to 
Christ. — Mc Chcyne. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

A Sabbath Song. — Psalm xcii. 



1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the 
Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O 
Most High : 

2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the 
morning, and thy faithfulness every night, 

3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and 
upon the psalteiy ; upon the harp with a sol- 
emn sound. 

4 For thou, O Lord, hast made me glad 
through thy work : I will triumph in the works 
of thy hands. 

5 O Lord, how great are thy works ! and 
ihy thoughts are very deep. 

6 A brutish man knoweth not ; neither doth 
a fool understand this. 

7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and 
when all the workers of iniquity do flourish ; 
it is that they shall be destroyed for ever : 



8 But thou, Lord, art most high for ever- 
more. 

9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, 
thine enemies shall perish ; all the workers of 
iniquity shall be scattered. 

ID But my horn shalt thou exalt like the 
horn of a unicorn : I shall be anointed with 
fresh oil. 

1 1 Mine eye also shall see my desire on 
mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my de- 
sire of the wicked that rise up against me. 

12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm 
tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 

13 Those that be planted in the house of the 
Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. 

14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old 
age ; they shall be fat and flourishing ; 

15 To shew that the Lord is upright: he is 
my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 



This Psalm was intended to be sung upon the day of rest. The subject 
is the praise of God ; " praise is Sabbatic work, the joyful occupation of 
resting hearts. In the church of Christ, at this- hour, no psalm is more fre- 
quently sung upon the Lord's day than this. The delightful version of Dr. 

(325) 



326 



Tw:eNTY-vSIXTH WKI^.K. 

' Sweet is the work, my God, my King," 



Watts, beginning with the 
familiar to us all. 

" Our personal experience has confirmed us in the belief that it is good 
to sing unto the Lord ; we have often felt like Luther when he said, ' Come, 
let us sing a psalm, and drive away the devil.'" — C. H. Spurgeon. 

"To show forth thy lovmgkmdness in the nioming!' The day should begin 
with praise : no hour is too early for holy song. ''And thy faithfulness 
every night!' No hour is too late for praise ; the end of the day must not 
be the end of gratitude. "Every night!' Clouded or clear, moonlit or dark, 
calm or tempestuous. As thou wouldst have God prosper thy labor in the 
day, and sweeten thy rest in the night, clasp them both together with thy 
morning and evening devotions. 

Closet Promise. — Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliver- 
ance. — Psalm xxxii. 7. 



Then shall thy tossing soul find anchorage 

And steadfast peace ; 
Thy love shall rest in His ; thy weary doubts 

Forever cedse. 



Christ and His love shall be thy blessed all 

Forevermore ! 
Christ and His peace shall keep thy troubled soul 

Forevermore. — Horatio Bonar. 



MONDAY. 

A Royal Procession. — Matt. xxi. 1-17. 



1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, 
and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount 
of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 

2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over 
against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass 
tied, and a colt with her : loose them, and bring 
them unto me. 

3 And if any man say aught unto you, ye 
shall say, The Lord hath need of them ; and 
straightway he will send them. 

4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled 
which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 

5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy 
King Cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon 
an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 

6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus 
commanded them, 

7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put 
on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 

8 And a very great multitude spread their 
garments in the way ; others cut down branches 
from the trees, and strewed them in the way. 

9 And the multitudes that went before, and 
that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the 
Son of David; Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 



10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, 
all the city was moved, saying, Who is this ? 

1 1 And the multitude said. This is Jesus the 
prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. 

12 ^ And Jesus went into the temple of God, 
and cast out all them that sold and bought 
in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the 
money changers, and the seats of them that sold 
doves, 

13 And said unto them. It is written, My 
house shall be called the house of prayer; but 
ye have made it a den of thieves. 

14 And the blind and the lame came to him 
in the temple ; and he healed them. 

15 And when the chief priests and scribes 
saw the wonderful things that he did, and the 
children crying in the temple, and saying, Ho- 
sanna to the Son of David ; they were sore dis- 
pleased, 

16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what 
these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea ; 
have ye never read. Out of the mouth of babes 
and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ? 

17 \ And he left them, and went out of the 
city into Bethany ; and he lodged there. 



Christ's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem is one of the most noted scenes 



MONDAY, 



327 



in gospel story. It is a sun-burst in the life of the Son of man. It is a 
typal coronation. It is a foregleam of that coming day when Jesus shall be 
enthroned by the voice of the universe." — David Gregg. 

By thus riding through the streets in state Christ claimed to be a king. 
This claim had been kept in the background till now ; but in the hour of 
deep humiliation He makes an open claim. He was a spiritual king, there- 
fore He went not to the palace temporal, but to the palace spiritual ; He 
rides to the temple. 

"Enthusiasm in religion. There was feeling and thrill and deep life and 
outbur.sting emotion in the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and He 
approved it all. I argue for the equipment of enthusiasm in the service of 
Christ. There should be a fervency of spirit that will radiate both hght and 

heat. The faculties should be on fire Christianity loses its power 

when it loses its pathos. Every religion goes downward when it loses the 
power of exciting the highest, most intelligent, and most courageous enthu- 
siasm." — David Gregg. 



Closet Promise. — Unto you therefore which believe He is precious. — ] 
Pet. ii. 7. 

" Cling to the Crucified ! 
His is a heart of Love, 
Full as the hearts above ; 
Its depths of sympathy 
Are all awake for thee ! 
His countenance is light 



Even in the darkest night : 
That Love shall never change, 
That Light can ne'er grow dim : 
Charge thou thy faithless heart 
To find its all in him ! 
Cling to the Crucified ! " 



TUESDAY. 

The Commandments. — Ex. xx. 1-17. 



1 And God spake all these words, saying, 

2 1 am the Lord thy God, which have 
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of 
the house of bondage. 

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
image, or any likeness of a7iy thing that is in 
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, 
or that is in the water under the earth : 

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, 
nor serve them : for I the Lord thy God am a 
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of'the fathers 
upon the children unto the third and fourth gen- 
cration of them that hate me ; 

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them 
that love me, and keep my commandments. 

7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LoRU 
thy God in vain : for the Lord will not hold 
him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy 
work : 



10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the 
Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any 
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy 
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, 
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates : 

11 For in six days the I^ord made heaven 
and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and 
rested the seventh day : wherefore the Lord 
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

12 Honour thy father and thy mother : that 
thy days may be long upon the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee. 

13 Thou shalt not kill. 

14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

15 Thou shalt not steal. 

16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against 
thy neighbour. 

17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's 
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, 
nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his 
ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neigh- 
bour's. 



328 TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK. 

The Decalogue stands alone as God's manuscript. Of it, it is said, "And 
the Lord gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with 
him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, written with the finger of 
God." It is this fact which exalts the Decalogue to the very highest rank 
of all recorded truth. We cannot restrict its application to a single people, 
a single locality or a single age. 

" Turn and listen to the simple universal rule given by our Lord, the rule 
which all can understand and all can accept — Keep the Commandments. 
If thou would.st enter into life, if thou wouldst know the good, you need not 
hurry about the world after this rabbi, and you need not hunt up the secret 
in the baffling masses of wrangling philosophers ; you need not run to and 
fro and waste yourself with trouble and anxiety, in terror lest you should have 
missed the true receipt or taken the wrong training ; you need not lose your- 
self in endless disputes and inquiries. No, it is all perfectly plain how it is 
to be done. 

" There is no royal road peculiar to the privileged, no doubt about it which 
can entitle you to defer it to to-morrow. Why ask concerning the good as 
if it were a curious riddle which lacked an answer ? If thou wouldst enter 
into life there is one receipt, and that is open to you and to all — Keep the 
Commandments. The Commandments ! They are points at which the will 
of man closes with the will of God. They are the moments at which this 
fusion occurs. 

" The Commandments express the very nature and character which con- 
stitute the enormous goodness of Him who is the only good, and in keeping 
them we come into touch with Him ; we are made one with Him ! they em- 
body the temper in which comnmnion takes place. Whenever we loyally 
keep a commandment then our will is God's will, and we unite with the good 
and become one." — Canon Scott-Holland. 

Closet Promise. — Great peace have they which love Thy law. — Psalm 
cxix. 165. 

When Thy will shall be my will, there shall be no more sea ; when I have 
received Thee into the ship, I shall touch the summits of Ararat. — George 

Matthewsoti. 

WEDNESDAY. 

Deceitfulness of the Heart. — Jer. xvii. 5-14. 

5 \ Thus saith the Lord ; Cursed be the man I 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, 
that trusteth in man, and makefh flesh his arm, and shall not see when good cometh ; but shall 
and whose heart departeth from the Lord. | 




RAISING THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 

And straightway the damsel arose, and walked. — Mark v. 42. 

328 



WEDNESDAY. 



329 



inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in 
a salt land and not inhabited. 

7 Blessed is the man that trustethin the LORU, 
and whose hope the Lord is. 

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the 
waters, and thai spreadeth out her roots by the 
river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but 
her leaf shall be green ; and shall not be care- 
ful in the year of drought, neither shall cease 
from yielding fruit. 

9 f The heart is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked : who can know it ? 

10 I the Lord search the heart, / try the 
reins, even lo give every man according to hi.s 
ways, attt/ according to the fruit of his doings. 



1 1 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatch- 
eth t/iein not ; so he that gctteth riches, and not 
by right, shall leave them in the midst of his 
days, and at his end shall be a fool. 

12 ^ A glorious high throne from the be- 
ginning is the place of our sanctuary. 

13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that for- 
sake thee shall be ashamed, and they that de- 
part from me shall be written in the earth, be- 
cause they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain 
of living waters. 

14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed ; 
save me, and I shall be saved : for thou ait my 
praise. 



" ' The heart is a grand imposter.' It is like a cheating tradesman, which 
will put one off with bad wares ; the heart will put a man ofif with seeming 
grace, instead of saving. A tear or two shed is repentance, a few lazy de- 
sires is faith ; blue and red flowers that grow among the corn look like good 
flowers, but they are but beautiful weeds. The foolish virgins' lamps looked 
as if they had oil in them, but they had none. Therefore to prevent a 
cheat, that we may not take false grace instead of true, we had need make a 
thorough disquisition and search of our hearts." — Watsofi. 

" There is enough tinder in the heart of the best men in the world to 
light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell, unless God should quench the 
sparks as they fall. There is enough corruption, depravity, and wickedness 
in the heart of the most holy man that is now alive to damn his soul to all 
eternity, if free and sovereign grace does not prevent. O Christian ! thou 
hast need to pray." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us ; 
He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the 
depths of the sea. — Micah vii. 19. 



O Lord God gracious and merciful, give us, I entreat Thee, a humble 
tru.st in Thy mercy, and suffer not our heart to fail us. Though our sins be 
seven, though our sins be seventy times seven, though our sins be more in 
number than the hairs of our head, yet give us grace in loving penitence to 
cast ourselves down into the depth of Thy compassion. Let us fall into the 
hand of the Lord. Amen. — C. G. Rossetti. 
19 



330 



TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



THURSDAY. 

A Christ-like Mind. — Phil. ii. 1-16. 



1 If there be therefore any consolation in 
Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship 
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 

2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, 
having the same love, being of one accord, of 
one mind. 

3 Let nothing be done through strife or vain- 
glory ; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem 
others better than themselves. 

4 Look not every man on his own things, but 
every man also on the things of others. 

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in 
Christ Jesus : 

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it 
not robbery to Ise equal with God ; 

7 But madd himself of no reputation, and 
took upon him the form of a servant, and 
was made in the likeness of men ; 

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he 
humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross. 

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted 



him, and given him a name which is above 
every name : 

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee 
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
earth, and things under the earth; 

11 And that every tongue should confess 
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God 
the Father. 

1 2 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always 
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now 
much more in my absence, work out your own 
salvation with fear and trembling ; 

13 For it is God which worketh in you both 
to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

14 Do all things without murmurings and dis- 
putings : 

15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, 
the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst 
of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom 
ye shine as lights in the world; 

16 Holding forth the word of life; that I 
may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not 
run in vain, neither laboured in vain. 



The key-note of this lesson is verse 5. To be a Christian is to be in our 
sphere what Christ was in His sphere. He circumscribed Himself, bowed 
down to the captivity of the human flesh, and submitted to the hated death 
of the cross; and He says, "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I 
you." He does not ask you to go to the cross, but He does ask you 
to take this as the idea of your hfe — namely, the supreme serving of others. 
Unless you can do this, then the offence of the cross is the same to you 
that it was to the Jews. 

"That ye may be blameless and harmless!' Verse 15. — " It is not hard for a 
man to die for Christ, nor for his faith, nor for his party. It is ten thousand 
times harder to live right than to die right. It is not difficult for a man to 
give his life up through the chamber of death. But to give your life while 
you hold it — yes, and to use it so that it is a perpetual benefaction all through 
— that is hard, and that is the special Christian duty. To live in such a 
way that, as from the stars by night and from the sun by day, light and 
guidance are issuing, so from you shall proceed an influence that comforts, 
cheers, instructs, and alleviates the troubles and sufferings of life — this is a 
true following of the Lord Jesus Christ." — H. W. Beecher. 



Closet Promise. — The meek will He guide in judgment; 
will He teach His way. — Psalm xxv. 9. 



and the meek 



Thursday; 



331 



The wind may rend the mighty oak 
Upon She mountain side ; 

Yet not too rudely touch the flowers 
That in the forest hide. 



While God doth bow the stubborn heart 
With threatenings from above, 

" The meek and lowly " only feel 
The breathings of His love. 

— Adelaide Stout. 



FRIDAY. 

David's Blessed Man. — Psalm i. 



1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the 
counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way 
of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; 
and in his law doth he meditate day and night, 

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the 
rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in 
his season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; and 
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 



4 The ungodly are not so : but are like the 
chaff which the wind driveth away. 

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in 
the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation 
of the righteous. 

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the 
righteous : but the way of the ungodly shall 
perish. 



" This Psalm carries blessedness in the frontispiece ; it begins where we 
all hope to end : it may well be called a Christian's Guide, for it discovers 
the quicksands where the wicked sink down in perdition, and the firm ground 
on which the saints tread to glory." — Thomas Watson's Saints' Spiritual De- 
light. 

" Where the word blessed is hung out as a sign, we may be sure that we 
shall find a godly man within." — Sir Richard Baker. 

This Psalm naturally divides itself into three parts : 

1. The righteous man happy in his disposition. Verses i and 2. — He is a man 
who " walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly." To him the ways of 
piety are paths of peace and pleasantness. " Nor standeth in the way of 
sinners." His company is of a choicer sort than it was. " Nor sitteth in 
the seat of the scornful." He finds no rest in the atheist's scoffings. " His 
delight is in the law of the Lord." " He is not under the law as a curse and 
condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life ; 
he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it 
by nighty — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

2. The righteous man happy in his course of life. Verses 3 and 4. — A 
healthy tree is always " extending its roots, increasing its woody fibres, cir- 
culating its nutritive juices, putting forth fruit-buds, blossoms, leaves, or 
fruit ; and all these operations go on, in a healthy tree, in their proper sea- 
sons. So the godly man ; he is ever taking deeper root, growing stronger 
in the grace he has already received, increasing in heavenly desires, and, 
under the continual influence of the Divine Spirit, forming those purposes 
from which much fruit to the glory and praise of God shall be produced." 
— Adam Clarke. 



332 



TWENTY-SIXTH WKEK 



3. TJie righteous man happy in his end. Verses 5 and 6.' — " The righteous 
carves his name upon the rock, but the wicked writes his remembrance in 
the sand." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of 
water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not 
wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. — Psalm i. 2, 3. 



The wind that blows can never kil! 

The tree God plants ; 
It bloweth east ; it bloweth west ; 
The tender leaves have little rest, 
But any wind that blows is best. 



The tree God plants 
Strikes deeper root, grows higher still. 
Spreads wider boughs, for God's good-will 

Meets all its wants. 

—Lillie E. Barr. 



SATURDAY. 

A Compassionate Saviour. — Luke vii. 11-18. 



11^ And it came to pass the day after, that he 
went into a city called Nain ; and many of his 
disciples went with him, and much people. 

12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of 
the city, behold, there was a dead man carried 
out, the only son of his mother, and she was a 
widow : and much people of the city was with 
her. 

13 And when the Lord saw her, he had com- 
passion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 

14 And he came and touched the bier : and 
they that bare him stood still. And he said. 
Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 



15 And he that was dead sat up, and began 
to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 

16 And there came a fear on all : and they 
glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is 
risen up among us ; and, That God hath visited 
his people. 

17 And this rumour of him went forth 
throughout all Judea, and throughout all the 
region round about. 

18 And the disciples of John shewed him of 
all these things. 



What a precious lesson is this for widowed and bereaved mothers ! This 
woman was mourning for the death of her only son — and that was sorrow 
enough. But before this she had parted with her husband. When her son 
died the last stay of her life had been taken away from her — the last light 
extinguished in her dwelling. Her home now would be entirely empty 
when she returned. Poor heart! — how little she dreamed that there could 
be consolation for desolation so utter — that for her there could be " the oil 
of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness!" 

" I have learned more of experimental religion since my little boy died 
than in all my life before." — Selected. 

Such were the works of our Saviour's earthly ministry ; and it is of no 
little moment that we enter fully into their significance. 

" He meets us bearing forth our dead hopes through the city's gate ; He 
meets us when our hearts are faint and weary ; when we feel the emptiness 
of all with which this world has sought to cheat our earnest longings for 
the great, the real, and the true. He stands beside the bier, He bids us 



SATURDAY. - 333 

weep no more, He stops our mourning steps ; the dead hear Him ; hopes 
of youth, aspirations of heart, dreams of purity, of reality, of high service, 
with which once our spirits kept glad company, but which had withered, 
and sunk, and died, as the hot and scorching sun of common life arose upon 
us — these revive ; they sit up ; they begin to speak ; they find a voice ; they 
turn to Him, and He gives them back to us, and bids us cherish them for 
Him. On Him, then, may our affections fix. On Him, the Healer, the Re- 
storer of humanity, may our hearts learn to lean the secret burden of their 
being." — Bishop Samuel Wilberforce. 

Closet Promise. — Who giveth songs in the night. — Job xxxv. 10. 

The Rev. M. D. Hoge, D. D., relates the following incident : 

" Once I made a visit to a young person in this city who had long been a 
sufferer from a disease which caused her unspeakable pain. Her kind phy- 
sician stood by her with tears in his eyes, but could give her only temporary 
relief After he left I tried to say a few soothing, comforting words to her, 
and she said : 

" ' Yes, I suffer great pain. I often lay awake all night, unable to sleep 
because of it, but I have one compensation.' 

" ' One compensation ? ' I asked. ' What is that ? ' 

"Said she: 'It is this: Often, when I cannot close my eyes in sleep, I 
have such a sense of God's loving and reconciling presence all about me 
that I have learned what Job means when he talks about songs in the 
night.' " 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of 
mine enemies. — Psalm xxiii. 5. 

"Weekly Proverb. — The darkest hour is that before the dawn. — Eng- 
lish. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— WHAT THE BIBLE IS LIKE. 

Swiday. — A Lamp, a Light. — Psalm cxix. 105-112. 
Monday. — A Fire, a Hammer. — Jer. xxiii. 23-40. 
Tuesday. — A Sword. — Eph. vi. 1-24. 
Wednesday. — A Graft. — James i. 1-2 1. 
Thursday. — A Glass Mirror. — James i. 22-27. 
Friday. — Pure Milk. — I Pet. ii. i-io. 
Saturday. — Food for the Soul. — ^Jer, xv. 15-21. 



334 



TWKNTY-SIXTH WEEK. 
HE KISSES HIS MOTHER. 



That boy will do to depend on ; 

I hold that this is true — 
From lads in love with their mothers 

Our bravest heroes grew. 



Earth's grandest hearts have been loving hearts 

Since time the earth began ; 
And the boy who kisses his motlier 

Is every inch a man. — Selected. 



Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. — Ex. xx. 8. 

Do you know what the word Sabbath means? It means rest. The 
Sabbath day is the day of rest. And we are commanded "to keep 
it holy." What does that mean ? First, it means, We must stop 
working. All stores should be closed ; all factories stopped ; all labor 
cease. But is it not right to do some kinds of work on Sunday ? 
Certainly; it is right to do good on the Sabbath day. Works of 
mercy and works of necessity may be done. But all other works must be 
stopped. It is not enough, however, merely to. stop working. Suppose a 
man stops working, but spends the day in visiting among his friends ; is that 
keeping the Sabbath ? No. Suppose he stays at home, and reads news- 
papers ; is that keeping the Sabbath ? No. If a company of boys go out 
and romp in the woods, or fly their kites, or play marbles ; or, if a company 
of girls get their dolls out, and dress, and undress them, they are not 
working ; but are they keeping the Sabbath ? Not at all. It is not enough 
simply to stop work. In the second place, We must spend the day in wor- 
shipping God, and learinng and thinking about Him. It is His day. It is 
set apart for Him. He gives us six days to play and work ; and we ought 
not to take the seventh day also, which is the Lord's. 



"WHERE THEY CRUCIFIED HIM." 

You will remember that the place where they crucified Jesus was named 
Calvary, which was outside the walls of Jerusalem. When they came to 
Calvary the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross. All He said while they were 
thus nailing Him were the words, " Father, forgive them ; for they know 
not what they do ! " That was the great pain he bore to save us. In the 
picture you can see the city of Jerusalem, with its great wall around it. In 
the foreground is the little hill Calvary. They have taken down the cross 
on which Jesus died. Two little children are examining the cruel nail with 
which they pierced His feet. A man is rolling up the tablet, which was 
nailed over the head of the blessed Lord, on which were the words, " Jesus 
OF Nazareth the King of the Jews." 

I hope all who read these words and look upon this sad picture will learn 
that wonderful hymn of Isaac Watts : 

When I survey the wondrous cross 

On which the Prince of Glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 

And pour contempt on all my pride. 

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast. 

Save in the death of Christ, my God ; 
All the vain things that charm me most 

I sacrifice them to His blood. 

See, from His head, His hands, His feet, 

Sorrow and love flow mingled down : 
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, 

Or thorns compose so rich a crown? 

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 

That were a present far too small ; 
Love so amazing, so divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all. 

(337) 



TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day : the night 
Cometh, when no man can work. — John ix. 4. 



Slow pass our days in childhood — every day 
Seems like a century ; rapidly they glide 



In manhood ; and in life's decline they fly. 
— IV.C. Bryant. 



Always be in haste, but never in a hurry. — Wesley's Maxim. 

Hurry is the mark of a weak mind : despatch, of a strong one. — Selected. 

The late Emperor William said in his last days : " I have no time to be 
tired." Since time for all of us is so short, Christians should be energetic 
with holy haste. — Selected. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Suffering Saviour. — Isa. liii. 



1 Who hath believed our report? and to 
whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? 

2 For he shall grow up before him as a ten- 
der plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : he 
hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we 
shall see him, there is no beauty that we should 
desire him. 

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a 
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and 
we hid as it were our faces from him ; he was 
despised, and we esteemed him not. 

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried 
our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, 
smitten of God, and afflicted. 

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, 
he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastise- 
ment of our peace was upon him ; and with his 
stripes we are healed. 

6 All we like sheep have gone astray ; we 
have turned every one to his own way ; and the 
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet 
lie opened not his mouth : he is brought as a 
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her 
sliearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 



8 He was taken from prison and from judg- 
ment : and who shall declare his generation? 
for he was cut off out of the land of the living : 
for the transgression of my people was he 
stricken. 

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, 
and with the rich in ^is death ; because he had 
done no violence, neither was any deceit in his 
mouth. 

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he 
hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make 
his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his 
seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure 
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 

1 1 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and 
shall be satisfied : by his knowledge shall my 
righteous servant justify many ; for he shall 
bear their iniquities : 

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with 
the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the 
strong ; because he hath poured out his soul unto 
death : and he was numbered with the trans- 
gressors ; and he bare the sin of many, and 
made intercession for the transgressors. 



Marvelous condescension — Christ took our place ! The sinless assumed 
the punishment of the sinful; the just died for the unjust; the Holy One 
gave His life for the guilty. And he did this " that He might bring us to 
God." 

" It seems too costly for Him who is the Prince of life and glory to let His 
(338) 



SUNDAY. 



339 



fair limbs be tortured in agony ; that the hands which carried mercies should 
be pierced with accursed nails ; that the temples that were always clothed 
with love should have cruel thorns driven through them ! It appears too 
much ! Oh ! weep, Christian, and let our sorrow rise. Is not the price all 
too great, that your Beloved should for you resign Himself? " — C. H. 
Spurgeon. 

"We may paint the outward appearance of Christ's sufferings, but not the 
inward bitterness or invisible causes of them. Men can paint the cursed 
tree, but not the curse of the law that made it so. Men can paint Christ 
bearing the cross to Calvary, but not Christ bearing the sins of many. We 
may describe the nails piercing His sacred flesh, but who can describe 
eternal justice piercing both flesh and spirit? We may describe the 
soldier's spear, but not the arrows of the Almighty ; the cup of vinegar 
which He but tasted, but not the cup of wrath, which He drank out to the 
lowest dregs ; the derision of the Jews, but not the desertion of the Almighty 
forsaking His Son, that He might never forsake us who were His enemies." 
— y. Maclaurin. 



Closet Promise. 

ii. 12. 



-If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. — 2 Tim. 



Disciple, oh, be not afraid, 

I only prove thy trust ; 
Perfect through suffering I am made, 

And so my followers must : 
'Tis thus my power and glory shine, 
And thus I prove thy love and mine. 



Gold in the furnace thou dost try. 

And so do I try thee : 
Renew, refine, and purify, 

To live and reign with me — 
A polished, pure, and perfect gem 
A diamond for my diadem." 



MONDAY. 

A Thanksgiving Psalm. — Psalm Ixv. 



1 Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion : 
and unto thee shall the vow be performed. 

2 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall 
all flesh come. 

3 Iniquities prevail against me : as for our 
transgressions, thou shall purge them away. 

4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and 
causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell 
in thy courts : we shall be satisfied with the 
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. 

5 By terrible things in righteousness will 
thou answer us, O God of our salvation ; who 
art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, 
and of them that are afar off upon the sea : 

6 Which by his strength settelh fast the 
mountains ; being girded with power : 

7 Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the 
noise of their waves, and the tumult of the 
people. 



8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts 
are afraid at thy tokens : thou makest the out- 
goings of the morning and evening to rejoice. 

9 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it : 
thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, 
which is full of water : thou preparest them 
coi-n, when thou hast so provided for it. 

10 Thou waterest the ridges thereof abun- 
dantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou 
makest it soft with showers : thou blessest the 
springing thereof. 

1 1 Thou crownest the year with thy good- 
ness ; and ihy paths drop fatness. 

12 They drop upon the pastures of the wil- 
derness ; and the little hills rejoice on every 
side. 

13 The pastures are clothed with flocks ; the 
valleys also are covered over with corn ; they 
shout for joy, they also sing. 



340 



TWENTY SEVENTH WEEK. 



This is one of the most deHghtful hymns in any language. 

" David sings of the glory of God in his church, and in the fields of na- 
ture : here is the song both of grace and providence. It may be that he 
intended hereby to commemorate a remarkably plentiful harvest, or to com- 
pose a harvest hymn for all ages." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" Coming after the previous sad Psalms, it seems like the morning after the 
darkness of night. There is a dewy freshness about it, and from the ninth 
verse to the end there is a sweet succession of landscape pictures that re- 
minds one of the loveliness of spring; and truly it is a description, in 
natural figures, of that happy state of men's minds which will be the result 
of the ' Day -Spring's visiting us from on high.' " — 0. Prescott Hiller. 

It is to be feared that we do not enough recognize God as the great Mas- 
ter-cultivator. " Our harvest-homes are times of rejoicing too, but I would 
that our tillers and reapers of the soil would as piously refer all to God as 
the Psalmist did. ' Thou waterest the earth, Thoit greatly enrichestit. Thou 
preparest the corn, Tlioji waterest the ridges. Thou settlest the furrows. Thou 
makest it soft with showers, Thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crown- 
est the year with Thy goodness.' Not one word of man, of man's skill, or 
of man's labor, not one thought of self How different from him whose 
grounds brought forth abundantly, and whose only thought was, ' I will say 
to my soul. Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine 
ease, eat, drink, and be merry.' " — Barton Bouchier. 

Closet Promise. — I am the Lord, I change not. — Mai. iii. 6. 



Be still, my soul, be still ! 

Unquiet is the world without. 

All strife and fickleness and doubt 
Seek thou the steadfast will ! 

One home, one haven, alone 

There is ; one sacred resting-place, 
The everlasting truth and grace 

Of the unchanging One. 

Here is the blessed balm, 

Each pain to soothe, each wound to heal, 

And to the ruffled spirit seal 
The everlasting calm. 



To the one stormless clime 

My waysore feet still hourly bend 
This brief unrest of earth to end, 

This fever-dream of time ! 

Give rest, my God, within, 

'Mid strifes and dark uncertainties, 
The tumults and the vanities. 

The passion and the sin. 

Speak Thou, and winds shall cease ; 

The life-long storm is o'er, 

I rest upon the shore, 
Where breathes the balm of peace. 

—Selected. 



TUESDAY. 

Bountiful Giving. — 2 Cor. ix. 6-15. 



6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly 
shall reap also sparingly ; and he which soweth 
bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 



7 Every man according as he purposeth in 
his heart, so let him give ; not grudgingly, or of 
necessity : for God loveth a cheerful giver. 




RAISING THE WIDOW'S SON. 

And He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. — Luke vii. 14. 

341 



TUESDAY 



343 



8 And God is able to make all grace abound 
toward you ; that ye, always having all sufficiency 
in all things, may abound to every good work : 

9 (As it is viritten, He hath dispersed abroad ; 
he hath given to the poor : his righteousness re- 
maineth for ever. 

10 Now he thatministereth seed to the sower 
both minister bread for yoitr food, and multiply 
your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your 
righteousness :) 

1 1 Being enriched in every thing to all boun- 
tifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving 
to God. 



12 For the administration of this service not 
only supplieth the want of the saints, but is 
abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God 

13 While by the experiment of this ministra- 
tion they glorify God for your professed subjec 
tion unto the gospel of Christ, and for you, 
liberal distribution unto them, and unlo all men ; 

14 And by their prayer for you, which long 
after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. 

15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable 
gift. 



God delights in what flows hberally from a loving heart. 

" God gives us what we have, not so much that we may have it, but that 
we may do good. Everything in life, even the best-earned rewards, are 
seeds sown for a future harvest." — Bengel. 

It was verse 8 which induced Francke to build the Orphan's House at 
Halle. In order to procure means to assist the poor of Halle, Francke 
placed a charity-box at the door of his own house inscribed with i John iii. 
17 and 2 Cor. ix. 7. One day (about Easter, 1695) on opening this box he 
found a sum so much larger than he had before been able to devote at one 
time to works of charity that he resolved immediately to found a free school 
for poor children. 

" God can bestow upon us abundantly, not only the grace which makes 
us rejoice in the Lord, and so prepares us to give with joyful hearts (chap, 
viii. 2), but the grace which bestows on us that abundance of earthly bless- 
ings and that prosperity which enables us to give so liberally." — Bessei'. 

There is " always an all-sufficiency in all things''' for God's children who 
give bountifully and cheerfully. 

Closet Promise, — Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender 
mercies. — Psalm ciii. 4. 



It is just as easy to cultivate the acquaintance of our mercies as of our 
miseries, and it is a great deal pleasanter for your enjoyment, just as it is 
much more pleasant to be introduced to friends than to enemies. 

Oh, that we could always think of God as we do of a friend, as of One 
who loves us even more than the best of our friends — aye, who loves us 
better than we love ourselves ! 



344 



TW:eNTY-SRVKNTH WEEK. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Ministry of John the Baptist. — Luke Hi. 1-22. 



1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of 
Tiberius Cesar, Pontius Pilate being governor 
of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, 
and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and of 
the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the te- 
trarch of Abilene, 

2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, 
the word of God came unto John the son of 
Zacharias in the wilderness. 

3 And he came into all the country about 
Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for 
the remission of sins; 

4 As it is written in the book of the words of 
Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one 
crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of 
the Lord, make his paths straight. 

5 Every valley shall be filled, and every 
mountain and hill shall be brought low ; and 
the crooked shall be made straight, and the 
rough ways shall be made smooth ; 

6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of 
God. 

7 Then said he to the multitude that came 
forth to be baptized of him, O generation of 
vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the 
wrath to come ? 

8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of re- 
pentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, 
We have Abraham to our father : for I say unto 
you, That God is able of these stones to raise up 
children unto Abraham. 

9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root 
of the trees : every tree therefore which bringeth 
not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into 
the fire. 

10 And the people asked him, saying. What 
shall we do then ? 

11 He answereth and saith unto them. He 



that hath two coats, let him impart to him that 
hath none ; and he that hath meat, let him do 
likewise. 

12 Then came also publicans to be baptized, 
and said unto him. Master, what shall we do ? 

13 And he said unto them. Exact no more 
than that which is appointed you. 

14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of 
him, saying, And what shall we do? And he 
said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither 
accuse any falsely; and be content with your 
wages. 

15 And as the people were in expectation, and 
all men mused in their hearts of John, whether 
he were the Christ, or not ; 

16 John answered, saying unto tltein all, I 
indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier 
than I Cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am 
not worthy to unloose : he shall baptize you 
with the Holy Ghost and with fire : 

17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will 
thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the 
wheat into his garner ; but the chaff he will burn 
with fire unquenchable. 

18 And many other things in his exhortation 
preached he unto the people. 

19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by 
him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and 
for all the evils which Herod had done, 

20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up 
John in prison. 

21 Now when all the people were baptized, 
it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, 
and praying, the heaven was opened, 

22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a 
bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice 
came from heaven, which said, Thou art my 
beloved Son ; in thee I am well pleased. 



"And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then ? " John's 
answer is significant (verses 1 1-14). 

" Our worldly occupations and our religious life are only two names for 
one thing. They are parts of our life, and never should be separated. Our 
daily business should be a part of our daily religion, and our daily religion 
should also be a part of our daily business. We never should antagonize 
them in our thoughts. The spiritual eleinent is to the practical what the 
dew, and rain, and sunlight are to the growing field of corn. In the closet 
we cleanse and inspire the soul, but in our business we use that strength 
which we have gained by this inspiring and cleansing. Our whole life is a 
religious life." — H. W. Beecher. 

Though none were worthy to stoop down and unloose the latchets of the 



WEDNESDAY. 345 

shoes of Christ, yet He stooped down and loosed the latchets of the shoes 
of humanity. He took upon Himself the form of a servant, and came, not 
to be ministered unto, but to minister. 

Closet Promise. — He that believeth shall not make haste. — Isaiah 
xxviii. 16. 

A prayer by Jeremy Taylor : " Bless me, gracious God, in my calling, to 
such purposes as Thou shalt choose for me, or employ me in ; relieve me in 
all my sadnesses; make my bed in my sickness; give me patience in my sor- 
rows, confidence in Thee, and grace to call upon Thee in all temptations. 
Oh, be Thou my guide in all my actions ; my protector in all dangers ; give 
me a healthful body and a clear understanding; a sanctified and just, a char- 
itable and humble, a religious and contented spirit ; let not my life be miser- 
able and wretched; nor my name stained with sin and shame; nor my con- 
dition lifted up to a tempting and dangerous fortune ; but let my condition 
be blessed, my conversation useful to my neighbors, and pleasing to Thee ; 
that, when my body shall lie down in its bed of darkness, my soul may pass 
into the regions of light, and live with Thee for ever, through Jesus Christ, 
Amen." 

THURSDAY. 

The Valley of Dry Bo->fES. — Ezek. xxxvii. i-io. 
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and j skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live ; 



carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set 
me down in the midst of the valley which was 
full of bones, 

2 And caused me to pass by them round 
about : and, behold, there were very many in 
the open valley ; and lo, ihey were very dry. 

3 And he said unto me. Son of man, can 
these bones live? And I answered, O Lord 
God, thou knowest. 

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon 
these bones, and say unto ihem, O ye dry bones, 
hear the word of the Lord. 

5 Thus saith the Lord GoD unto these bones ; 
Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, 
and ye shall live : 

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will 
bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with 



and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded : and 
as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold 
a shaking, and the bones came together, bone 
to his bone. 

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the 
flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered 
them above : but there was no breath in them. 

9 Then said he unto me. Prophesy unto the 
wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the 
wind. Thus saith the Lord GoD; Come from the 
four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these 
slain, that they may live. 

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, 
and the breath came into them, and they lived, 
and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great 
army. 



" Strange audience-room, a valley of graves ; strange audience, a host of 
bleaching skeletons ! But the prophet is obedient, and rings out the divine 
message in the solitude of the charnel house." — Rev. E. S. Atwood. 

So a great many ministers and Sunday-school teachers, God's prophets 
of to-day, speak to audiences apparently almost as hopeless, and certainly 



346 



TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



as unresponsive. What have they to encourage them ? Nothing, only that 
the Lord has commanded them to speak. And is not that encouragement 
enough ? With the faith of the prophet still let the words of God ring out. 
Ere long there will be a shaking among the dry bones. God rewards those 
who unquestioningly obey Him. So Ezekiel found ; for, as he prophesied, 
he began to see the effects of his words. In his case, at least, God did not 
keep him waiting. Immediately he began to see the marvels of resurrection. 
Perhaps all of us do not speak with his faith. There are some who say: 
" Yet four months, and then cometh harvest." 

With God nothing is impossible. No matter how far beyond restoration 
men may seem. He can bring them back, and give to them a new life. No 
matter how discouraging it may seem, it is our duty to proclaim God's 
word. If we sow the seed, He will take care of the harvest. 

Closet Promise. — I am the Lord that healeth thee. — Exod. xv. 26. 



The healing of the seamless dress 
Is by our beds of pain ; 



We touch Him in life's throng and press. 
And we are whole again. 

—John G. Whittier. 



FRIDAY. 

Prayer of Hope in Affliction. — Psalm xxxi. 



1 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me 
never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteous- 
ness. 

2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me 
speedily : be thou my strong rock, for a house 
of defence to save me. 

3 For thou art my rock and my fortress ; 
therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide 
me. 

4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid 
privily for me : for thou art my strength. 

5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit : thou 
hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. 

6 I have hated them that regard lying vani- 
ties : but I trust in the Lord. 

7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy : 
for thou hast considered my troulile ; thou hast 
known my soul in adversities; 

8 And h.ast not shut me up into the hand of 
the enemy : thou hast set my feet in a large 
room. 

9 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in 
trouble : mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, 
my soul and my belly. 

10 For my life is spent with grief, and my 
years with sighing : my strength faileth because 
of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. 

Ill was a reproach among all mine enemies, 
but especially among my neighbours, and a fear 



to mine acquaintance : they that did see me 
without fled from me. 

12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of 
mind : I am like a broken vessel. 

13 For I have heard the slander of many: 
fear wai on every side : while they took coun- 
sel together against me, they devised to take 
away my life. 

14 But I trusted in thee, O Lord : I said, 
Thou art my God. 

15 My times are in thy hand: deliver me 
from the hand of mine enemies, and from them 
that persecute me. 

16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant : 
save me for thy mercies' sake. 

17 Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I 
have called, upon thee : let the wicked be 
ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. 

18 Let tlie lying lips be put to silence ; which 
speak grievous things proudly and contempt- 
uously against the righteous. 

19 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou 
hast laid up for them that fear thee ; which thou 
hast wrought for them that trust in thee before 
the sons of men ! 

20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy 
presence from the pride of man : thou shalt 
keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife 
of tongues. 



FRIDAY 



347 



21 Blessed be the Lord : for he hath shewed 
me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. 

22 For I said in my haste, I am cut oiT from 
before thine eyes : nevertheless thou heardest 
the voice of my supplications when I cried unto 
thee. 



23 O love the Lord, all ye his saints :/(?;■ the 
Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully re- 
wardetli the proud doer. 

24 Be of good courage, and he shall strength- 
en your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. 



This Psalm refers to a period in David's life when lying lips spread a 
thousand malicious rumors against him. " The psalmist in dire affliction 
appeals to his God for help with much confidence and holy importunity, and 
ere long finds his mind so strengthened that he magnifies the Lord for his 
great goodness." 

The nineteenth and twentieth verses show a wonderful reach of faith. 
Truly the life of faith is a miracle. " When faith led David to his God, she 
set him singing at once." In the former clause of the nineteenth verse, 
God's goodness is said to be laid up ; in the latter to be wrought. " Good- 
ness is laid up in the promise, wrought in the performance ; and that good- 
ness which is laid up is wrought for them that trust in God; and thus, as 
God's faithfulness engageth us to believe, so our faith, as it were, engageth 
God's faithfulness to perform the promise." — Nathanael Hardy. 

"' Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.' 
This our beloved God does secretly, so that no human eyes may or can see, 
and the ungodly do not know that a believer is, in God, and in the presence 
of God, so well protected, that no reproach or contempt, and no quarrelsome 
tongues can do him harm." — Arndt. 



Closet Promise. — Behold, happy 
therefore despise not thou the chasten 
sore, and bindeth up : He woundeth, 
17, 18. 

Only this I know, I tell Him all my doubts, and 

griefs, and fears ; 
Oh, how patiently He listens, and my drooping 

soul He cheers ! 
Do you think He ne'er reproves me ? What a 

false friend He would be. 
If He never, never told me of the sins which He 

must see ! 



is the man whom God correcteth : 

ing of the Almighty : for He maketh 

and His hands make whole. — Job v. 



Do you think that I could love Him half so well, 

or as I ought. 
If He did not tell me plainly of each sinful deed 

and thought ? 
No ! He is very faithful, and that makes me trust 

Him more ; 
For I know that He does love me, though He 

wounds me very sore. 

— Ellen Lakshnie Goreh. 



SATURDAY. 

Walking in Christ. — i John ii. 1-17. 

I My little children, these things write I unto I have an advocate with the F.nther, Jesus Christ 
you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we the righteous: 

I 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins ; and 



348 



TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
whole world. 

3 And hereby we do know that we know him, 
if we keep his commandments. 

4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not 
his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not 
in him. 

5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily 
is the love of God perfected : hereby know we 
that we are in him. 

6 He that saith he abideth in him ought him- 
self also so to walk, even as he walked. 

7 Brethren, I write no new commandment 
unto you, but an old commandment which ye 
had from the beginning. The old command- 
ment is the word which ye have heard from the 
beginning. 

8 Again, a new commandment I write unto 
you, which thing is true in him and in you : be- 
cause the darkness is past, and the true light 
nowshineth. 

9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth 
his brother, is in darkness even until now. 

10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the 
light, and there is none occasion of stumbling 
in him. 



11 But he that hateth his brother Is in dark- 
ness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not 
whither he goeth, because that darkness hath 
blinded his eyes. 

12 I write unto you, little children, because 
your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. 

13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have 
known h.\m. that is from the beginning. I write 
unto you, yonng men, because ye have over- 
come the wicked one. I write unto you, little 
children, because ye have known the Father. 

14 I have written unto you, fathers, because 
ye have known him that is from the beginning. 
I have written unto you, young men, because ye 
are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, 
and ye have overcome the wicked one. 

15 Love not the world, neither the things that 
are in the world. If any man love the world, 
the love of the Father is not in him. 

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the 
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

17 And the world passeth away, and the lust 
thereof: but he that doeth the will of God 
abideth for ever. 



In this chapter John tells us that rightly to know God is to keej) His 
commandments, to love our brethren, and not to love the world. The key- 
word of the whole chapter is " ought' (verse 6). If we be Christians, then 
we ought in our measure as redeemed men to live as He lived. 

" It is not His walking on the sea, but His every-day walk we are called 
to imitate." — Luther. 

" Would I know whether I know God, I must not examine my knowledge 
but my walk ; and would I know whether thou knowest God, I do not ask 
that which thy mouth may have to say of Him, but that which thy life does 
testify of him." — Besser. 

" Enoch ' walked with God ; ' it is not taking a step or two in a way 

which denominates a man a w«//^^r, but a continued motion A Chri.stian 

may stumble, nay, he may fall, but he gets up and walks on in the way of 
God's commandments ; the bent of his heart is right, and the scope of his 
life is straight, and hence he is deemed sincere.'' — Swinnock. 

Closet Promise. — He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, for His 
name's sake. — Psalm xxiii. 3. 



The clouds hang heavy round my way, 

I cannot see ; 
But through the darkness I believe 

God leadeth me. 
'Tis sweet to keep my hand in His 

While all is dim ; 



To close my weaiy, aching eyes, 

And follow Him. 
Through many a thorny path he leads 

My tired feet ; 
Through many a path of tears I go, 

But it is sweet 



SATURDAY. 



349 



To know that He is close to me, 
My God, my Guide. 

He leadeth me, and so I walk, 
Quite satisfied. 



To my blind eyes. He may reveal 

No light at all; 
But while I lean on His strong arm 

I cannot fall." 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto.— Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with 
benefits. — Psalm Ixviii. 19. 

Weekly Proverb. — Be always ashamed to catch thyself idle. — Poor 
Richard. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— SEVEN DAILY THINGS. 

Sunday. — Daily Bread. — Matt. vi. 9-18. 

Monday. — Daily Cross. — Luke ix. 18-27. 

Tuesday. — Daily Increase in the Church. — Acts xvi. 1-15. 

Wednesday. — Daily Searching of the Scriptures. — Acts xvii. 1-15. 

Thursday. — Daily Dying. — i Cor. xv. 1-34. 

Friday. — Daily Exhorting. — Heb. iii. 1-19. 

Saturday. — Daily Watching. — Prov. viii. 1-36. 

MAY AND HER PUSSY. 



May. 
Now, Pussy Gray, 
Come here, I pray ; 
Listen to what I have to say. 
Sit on the cushion at my side 
And have your ribbon neatly tied. 
You must not scratch, nor growl, nor bite. 
And you must never steal nor fight ; 
But clear the house of rats and mice. 
And keep your fur and whiskers nice. 
The things that other pussies do 
Would not be right at all for you ; 
You are my cat. 
Remember that. 



Pussy. 
O, Mistress May, 
Your Pussy Gray 
Has quite as much as you to say : 
You should not scold, nor pinch, nor strike, 
Nor feed me only when you like ; 
Nor shut me out to freeze at night. 
When you are tucked up warm and tight ; 
But treat me always in the way 
You'd like if you were Pussy Gray. 
The things that other people do 
Are none the nearer right for you ; 
I am your cat, 
Remember that. — Wide-Awake. 



Hallow my Sabbaths. — Ezek. xliv. 24. 

I talked last week about Sabbath-keeping — how to do it ; to-day I want 
to talk about Sabbath -breaking. A certain infidel .says that he has learned 
by sad experience that a curse follows those who break the Sabbath. A 
young man was going to be hung for murder. As he stood upon the scaf- 
fold he spoke to the crowd gathered round in this manner: " My friends, 
you have come to see a man die. Let me advise you to take warning by me. 
The beginning of my ruin was Sabbath-breaking. This led me into bad 
company; from bad company I went to drinking, then to stealing, and then 
to murder. Thus I have been brought to my present sad condition. Many 



350 TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 

of you are young ; in an especial manner let me warn you to beware of 
Sabbath-breaking." So I might tell you of many other cases, which show 
the evil that follows from breaking the Sabbath. But, my dear children, I 
hope wherever you go you will " keep the Sabbath." A woman told a 
little girl, one Sunday morning, to put on her things and take a bundle 
under her shawl to a lady's house. " Nobody will see it," she said. " But 
is it not Sunday under my shawl, aunty? " asked the child. Oh ! don't for- 
get, little ones, that Sunday belongs to all places. Wherever you are, be 
sure that you always " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." 

BY AND BY. 

There's a little mischief-maker 

That is stealing half our bliss, 
Sketching pictures in a dream-land 

That are never seen in this ; 
Dashing from our lips the pleasure 

Of the present while we sigh ; 
You may knftw this mischief-maker, 

For his name is " By and By." 

He is sitting by our hearthstone, 

With his sliy bewitching glance. 
Whispering of the coming morrow 

As the social hours advance ; 
Loit'ring 'mid our calm reflections. 

Hiding forms of beauty nigh — 
He's a smooth, deceitful fellow. 

This enchanter, " By and By." 

You may know him by his wincing. 

By his sporting, careless air ; 
By his sly, obstructive presence, 

That is straying everywhere ; 
By the trophies that he gathers 

Where. his sombre victims lie ; 
For a bold, determined fellow 

Is this conquerer, " By and By." 

When the call of duty haunts us. 

And the present seems to be 
All the time that erring mortals 

Snatch from dark eternity, 
Then a fairy hand seems painting 

Pictures in a distant sky ; 
For a cunning little artist 

Is this fairy, " By and By." 

" By and By," the wind is singing; 

" By and By," the heart replies; 
But the phantom just above us, 

Ere we grasp it, ever flies. 
Listen not to idl.e charmer; 

Scorn the very specious lie ; 
Only to the fancy liveth 

This deceiver, " By and By." 

—Selected. 



TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, 
wanting nothing. — James i. 4. 



Thy Father reigns supreme above ; 

The glory of His name 
Is Grace and Wisdom, Truth and Love, 

His will must be the same. 



And thou hast asked all joys in one. 
In whispering forth " Thy will be done ! " 
—F. R. Havergal. 



Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on — hold fast — 
hold out. — Selected. 

It is not in our power to bring our condition to our minds ; but it is our 
duty to bring our minds to our condition. — Foj'd. 

Christ went to heaven with many a wrong ; His visage and countenance 
were marred more than all the sons of men. You may not be above your 
Master. — Rutherford. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Christ Walking on the Sea. — Matt. xiv. 22-36. 



22 \ And straightway Jesus constrained his 
disciples to get into a ship, and to go before 
him unto the other side, while he sent the mul- 
titudes away. 

23 And when he had sent the multitudes 
away, he went up into a mountain apart to 
pray : and when the evening was come, he was 
there alone. 

24 But the ship was now in the midst of the 
sea, tossed with waves : for the wind was con- 
trary. 

25 And in the fourth watch of the night 
Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 

26 And when the disciples saw him walking 
on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a 
spirit ; and they cried out for fear. 

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, 
saying, Be of good cheer ; it is I ; be not 
afraid. 

28 And Peter answered him and said. Lord, 
if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the 
water. 

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter 



was come down out of the ship, he walked on 
the water, to go to Jesus. 

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he 
was afraid ; and beginning to sink, he cried, 
saying. Lord, save me. 

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth 
his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, 
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou 
doubt ? 

32 And when they were come into the ship, 
the wind ceased. 

33 Then they that were in the ship came and 
worshipped him, saying. Of a truth thou art the 
Son of God. 

34 \ And when they were gone over, they 
came into the land of Gennesaret. 

35 And when the men of that place had 
knowledge of him, they sent out into all that 
country round about, and brought unto him all 
that were diseased ; 

36 And besought him that they might only 
touch the hem of his garment : and as many as 
touched were made perfectly whole. 



This incident teaches us very plainly that, in the time of trouble and peril, 
Jesus is nigh. 

" It often happens that the coming of Christ to His disciples for their re- 

(861) 



352 



TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK, 



lief is that which frightens them most, because they do not know the extent 
of God's wardrobe ; for I think that as a king might never wear the same 
garment but once, in order to show his riches and magnificence, so God 
comes to us in all exigencies, but never twice alike. He sometimes puts on 
the garments of trouble ; and when we aie calling upon Him as though He 
were yet in heaven, He is walking by our side, and that from which we are 
praying God to deliver us is often but God Himself Thus it is with us as 
with children who are terrified by their dreams in the night, and scream for 
their parents, until, fully waking, behold they are in their parents' arms." — 
H. W. Beechcr. 

" We need not fear the tempest, but only the weakness of our faith. 
Hence Christ does not calm the storm, but takes Peter by the hand. It is 
of no use to be near Christ in person, unless we be near Him by faith." — 
Wordszvortli. 

Closet Promise. — And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto 
the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 
— Mark iv. 39. 



Dark was the night — the foaming deep 
Raged madly round : He rose from sleep — 
The Man ; the God ; the tempest's Lord. 
He spake ! obedient, trembling, awed, 
Low sank the proud wave's crested head; 
Far the affrighted storm-fiend fled. 

We sail on life's tempestuous sea ! 
O Thou, whose voice wild Galilee 
Heard 'bove the storm-blast, speak the word 
Which oft since then the saints have heard! 
May we, when tempests baffle skill. 
Hear the commanding, " Peace, be still." 



Speak ! and the sky of sorrow's night 
Is radiant with celestial light ; 
Speak! and the wildest waves obey, 
And gently bear us on our way ; 
Speak ! and temptation's fiercest blast 
Is harmless, all its fury past. 

Speak ! and the very winds of death 
Shall waft a more than welcome breath — 
To fairer realms than heart conceives. 
Or thread of happiest fancy weaves ; 
To worlds where evil never trod. 
Bright as the diadem of God. 

—Arthur Vine Hall. 



MONDAY. 

Our King. — Jer. xxiii. 1-8. 



1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and 
scatter the sheep of my pasture ! saith the 
Lord. 

2 Therefore thus saith the Lord GoD of Israel 
against the pastors that feed my people; Ye 
have scattered my flock, and driven them away, 
and have not visited them : behold, I will visit 
upon you the evil of your doings, saith the 
Lord. 

3 And I vi'ill gather the remnant of my flock 
out of all countries whither I have driven them, 
and will bring them again to their folds ; and 
they shall be fruitful and increase. 



4 And I will set up shepherds over them 
which shall feed them ; and they shall fear no 
more, nor he dismayed, neither shall they be 
lacking, saith the Lord. 

5 ^ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, 
and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall 
execute judgment and justice in the earth. 

6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel 
shall dwell safely : and this is his name whereby 
he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHT- 
EOUSNESS. 

7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith 



the Lord, that they shall no more say, The 
Lord liveth, which brought up the children of 
Israel out of the land of Egypt ; 

8 But, The Lord liveth, which brought up 



• AY. 353 

and which led the seed of the house of Israel 
out of the north country, and from all countries 
whither I had driven tliem ; and they shall dwell 
in their own land. 



Jesus is called King. In this chapter His name is called The Lord our 
Righteousness. It is in His kingly capacity that this glorious name is 
given to Him. For only by " siibvdtthig ourselves to the Righteousness of 
God," can we have " the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth 
righteousness without works." There can be no compromise — it must be 
His only or ours only. He must be our King, or He will not be our Right- 
eousness. 

" Now who is like to this royal King crowned in Zion ? When shall I 
get a seat for royal Majesty ? If I could set Him as far above the heavens 
as thousand thousands of heights devised by men and angels, I should 
think Him too low. His love hath neither brim nor bottom ; His love is 
like Himself: it passeth all natural understanding. I go to embrace it with 
my arms ; but it is as if a child would take the globe of sea and land in 
his two short arms. Blessed and holy is His name ! " — Rutherford. 

Closet Promise. — They shall call on My name, and I will hear them : 
I will say, It is My people : and they shall say. The Lord is my God. — 
Zech. xiii. 9. 

The late Rev. James Allen used to pray : " O God, make me now all that 
Thou wouldest have me to be now ; make me now all that it is possible to 
be now." Prayer like this, offered in full consecration and full trust, always 
evokes the desired response from the divine mercy. 



TUESDAY. 

Forgiveness of Sins. — Psalm xxxii. 



1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, 
■whose sin is covered. 

2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord 
imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there 
is no guile. 

3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old 
through my roaring all the day long. 

4 For day and night thy hand was heavy 
upon me : my moisture is turned into the drought 
of" summer. Selah. 

5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine 
iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess 
my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou 
forgavestthe iniquity of my sin. Selah. 

6 For this shall every one that is godly pray 
unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found ; 
surely in the floods of great waters they shall 
not come nigh unto him. 



7 Thou art my hiding place ; thou shalt pre- 
serve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me 
about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 

8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the 
way which thou shalt go : I will guide thee 
with mine eye. 

9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, 
■which have no understanding : whose mouth 
must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they 
come near unto thee. 

10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked : but 
he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall com- 
pass him about. 

11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye 
righteous ; and shout for joy, all^^ that are up- 
right in heart. 



354 



TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



" It is told of Luther that one day being asked which of all the Psalms 
were the best, he made answer, 'Psabni Pauliui' and when his friends 
pressed to know which these might be, he said, ' The 32d, the 51st, the 
130th, and 143d. For they all teach that the forgiveness of our sins comes, 
without the law and without works, to the man who believes, and therefore 
I call them Pauline Psalms ;' and David sings, 'There is forgiveness with 
Thee, that Thou mayest be feared ; ' this is just what Paul says, ' God hath 
concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all ' (Rom. 
xi. 32). " — Luther's Table Talk. 

" Get your sins hid. There is a covering of sin which proves a curse. 
Prov. xxviii. 13. ' He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; ' there is a 
covering it by not confessing it, or which is worse, by denying it — Gehazi's 
covering — a covering of sin by a lie ; and there is also a covering of sin by 
justifying ourselves in it. I have not done this thing; or, I did no evil in 
it. All these are evil coverings ; he that thus covereth his sin shall not 
prosper. But there is a blessed covering of sin : forgiveness of sin is the 
hiding it out of sight, and that's the blessedness." — Richard Allaine. 

Closet Promise. — There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 
— Rom. viiL i. 

O my soul ! is it indeed true that all thy wretchedness and guilt have been 
washed away " through His most precious blood ? " Then, indeed, shouldst 
thou " rejoice and be exceeding glad." 



My soul's Restorer, let me learn 
In Thy deep love to live and rest ! 

Let me the precious thing discern 
Of which I am indeed possessed. 



My treasure let me feel and see, 
And let my moments as they flee 
Unfold my endless life in Thee ' ' 



WEDNESDAY. 

Live Coals. — Isaiah vi. 



1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw 
also the Lord silting upon a throne, high and 
lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 

2 Above it stood the seraphim : each one 
had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, 
nnd with twain he covered his feet, and with 
twain he did fly. 

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, 
holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts : the whole 
earth is full ot his glory. 

4 And the posts of the door moved at the 
voice of him that cried, and the house was filled 
with smoke. 

5 Then said I, Woe is me 1 for I am undone; 



because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell 
in the midst of a people of unclean lips : for 
mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of 
hosts. 

6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, 
having a live coal in his hand, which he had 
taken with the tongs from off the altar : 

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, 
Lo, this hath touched thy lips ; and thine iniquity 
is taken away, and thy sin purged. 

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 
Wliom shall I send, and who will go for us? 
Then said I, Here am I ; send me. 

9 .And he said. Go, and tell this people, Hear 



WEDNESDAY 



355 



ye indeed, but understand not ; and see ye in- 
deed, but perceive not. 

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and 
make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest 
they see with their eyes, and hear with their 
ears, and understand with their heart, and con- 
vert, and be healed. 

1 1 Then said I, Lord, how long ? And he 
answered. Until the cities be wasted without in- 



habitant, and the houses without man, and the 
land be utterly desolate, 

12 And the Lord have removed men far 
away, and there be a great forsaking in the 
midst of the land. 

13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall 
return, and shall be eaten : as a teil tree, and as 
an oak, whose substance is in them, when they 
cast their leaves : so the holy seed shall be the 
substance thereof. 



Isaiah was sinful, and thought he was forever ruined — undone. Every 
sinner comes to that point, when he has a revelation of God's holiness. But 
Isaiah's extremity was God's opportunity. Then flew one of the seraphim 
unto him. Seraphim literally means " burning ones." The true meaning 
of the seraph is " to set on fire " or " burn up." Here with a live coal of the 
Divine fire he burned up Isaiah's sins. 

Religion is a live coal — it is a life. Isaiah had the baptism of fire. He 
was now ready for work. If we want to work for the salvation of souls, we 
must have the fire. It must burn in our bones. We must love God burn- 
ingly, and men the same way. 

" 'Here am I ; send me! Who is this ? Why, he is the same man who 
was crying awhile ago, ' Woe is me ! ' What a change regeneration makes 
in a man ! He is anxious to do something now. . . . But stop, Isaiah, God 
has not told you yet ivhat He wanted you to do. ' It makes no difference — 
Here am I ; send me.' But the work may be something which you cannot 
do at all. ' If so, / never ivotdd have heard the voice. No man ever hears 
God's call to another, God would not call me to do impossibilities. Here 
am I ; send me.' But stop, Isaiah, you do not know where God wants you 
to go ; He may want to send you to the North Pole. ' I cannot help it, that 
is God's business. Here am I ; send me.' He may want to send you into 
the house of your enemy, or into the most dangerous and disreputable alley 
in Jerusalem. You know not how great the cross. ' Here am I ; send me.' 
Isaiah asks no questions." — W. E. Miinsey, D.D. 

Closet Promise. — The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I 
pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless. 
Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. — I Thess. v. 23, 24. 

It was no relief from temporal evils that the apostle promised. . . . No; 
the mercy of God might send them to the stake, or the lions ; it was still 
His mercy, if it but kept them "unspotted from the world." It might 
expose them to insult, calumny, and wrong; they received it still as mercy, 
if it "established them in every good word and work." O brethren! how 
many of you are content with such faithfulness as this on the part of your 



356 TWENTY- EIGHTH WEEK. 

heavenly Father ? Is this, indeed, the tone and tenor of your prayers ? — 
Wm. Archer Butler. 

THURSDAY. 

"A Roaring Lion," — i Peter v. i-ii. 

1 The elders which are among you I exhort, j 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the 
who am also an elder, and a witness of the i mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in 
sufferings of Christ, and aiso a partaker of the due time ; 

glory thai shall be revealed : | 7 Casting all your care upon him ; for he 

2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, i carelh for you. 

taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, ; 8 Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adver- 

but willingly ; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready | sary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, 

mind; | seeking whom he may devour: 

3 Neither as being lords over God'' s heritage, } 9 Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing 
but being ensamples to the flock. i that the same afllictions are accomplished in 

4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ] your brethren that are in the world. 

ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not ' 10 But the God of all grace, who hath called 

away. ' us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after 

5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves \ that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, 
unto the elder. Yea, all of _j'o« be subject one ! stablish, strengthen, settle ji'o«. 

to another, and be clothed with humility: for I 11 To him be glory and dominion for ever 
God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the and ever. Amen, 
humble. 1 

Unquestionably there is a personal devil, full of malignity, perversity and 
falsehood. He seeks his prey " as a roaring lion ; " therefore, watch. He 
is " your adversary ; " do not believe him. 

" Some there are that will go from Rome to England to make proselytes ; 
but the devil will go from one end of the world to the other, and walk from 
pole to pole, till he hath put a girdle about the loins of the earth, to make a 
man the 'child of hell like himself" — Adavis. 

" Where, then, is thy strength to resist him ? It cannot be in thyself, nor 
in thy best exertions. The devil would laugh at these, and all would be but 
as feathers to the breath of his temptations. Hear what the apostle saith : 
'Whom resist steadfast in the faith.' See here, where thy strength is. 
Faith in Jesus is the only, and it is an infallible defence against all the fiery 
darts of the wicked. There is nothing that Satan dreads but the blood of 
the cross. There is nothing that conquers him but faith in Jesus' blood. 
Tell him of the blood which cleanseth from all sin, and he will flee from 
thee." — Robert Hawker, D.D. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of 
temptation. — 2 Peter ii. 9. 

When we stand upon the big mountain, let us pray, Hold me up lest I 
fall ; and when we put on our daily garments, let us ask for the anointing. 
It is the man who is full of joy and delight who is called upon to be watch- 



THURSDAY. 



357 



ful. When all is calm with us we may expect a hurricane. It is the worst 
devil when we cannot see any devil, for then perhaps the rascal has got 
inside of us and is ready to give us a deadly stab. — C. H. Spurgeo?i. 



FRIDAY. 

Thanksgiving. — Psalm cxviii. 



1 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is 
good : because his mercy endur^th for ever. 

2 Let Israel now say, that his mercy emiiireth 
for ever. 

3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his 
mercy endtireth for ever. 

4 Let them now that fear the Lord say, that 
his mercy endtirelh for ever. 

5 I called upon the Lord in distress : the 
Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. 

6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear : 
what can man do unto me ? 

7 The Lord taketh my part with them that 
help me : therefore shall I see ?ny desire upon 
them that hate me. 

8 // is better to trust in the Lord than to put 
confidence in man. 

9 // is belter to trust in the LoRD than to put 
confidence in princes. 

ID All nations compassed me about : but in 
the name of the Lord will I destroy them. 

11 They compassed me about; yea, they 
compassed me about : but in the name of the 
Lord I will destroy them. 

12 They compassed me about like bees; they 
are quenched as the fire of thorns : for in the 
name of the Lord I will destroy them. 

13 Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might 
fall : but the Lord helped me. 

14 The Lord is my strength and song, and 
is become my salvation. 

15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in 



the tabernacles of the righteous : the right hand 
of the Lord doeth valiantly. 

16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted : 
the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. 

17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the 
works of the Lord. 

18 The Lord hath chastened me sore : but 
he hath not given me over unto death. 

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness : I 
will go into them, and I will praise the Lord : 

20 This gate of the Lord, into which the 
righteous shall enter. 

21 I will praise thee : for thou hast heard 
me, and art become my salvation. 

22 The stone whiili the builders refused is 
become the head stone of the corner. 

23 This is the Lord's doing ; it is marvellous 
in our eyes. 

24 This is the day which the Lord hath 
made ; we vi'ill rejoice and be glad in it. 

25 Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord : O 
Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 

26 Blessed be he that Cometh in the name of 
the Lord : we have blessed you out of the 
house of the Lord. 

27 God is the Lord, which hath shewed us 
light : bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto 
the horns of the altar. 

28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee : 
thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 

29 O give thanks unto the Lord ; for he is 
good : for his mercy endureth for ever. 



This Psalm is a song of thanksgiving to God for His kindness, faithful- 
ness, valor, and wisdom. 

" In the three exhortations, to Israel, to the house of Aaron, and to them 
that fear the Lord, there is a repetition of the exhortation to say, ' That His 
mercy endureth forever.' We are not only to believe, but to declare the 
goodness of God; truth is not to be hushed up, but proclaimed." — C. H. 
Spurgeon. 

"Now, now, now, saith David; there be three nows, and all to teach us 
that for aught we know, it is now or never, to-day or not at all ; we must 
praise God while the heart is hot, else our iron will cool. Satan hath little 
hope to prevail unless he can persuade us to omit our duties when the clocl; 



358 



TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



strikes, and therefore his skill is to urge us to put it off till another time as 
fitter or better." — Richard Capel. 

" This is my psalm, my chosen psalm. I love them all ; I love all holy 
Scripture, which is my consolation and my life; But this psalm is nearest 
my heart, and I have a peculiar right to call it mine. It has saved me from 
many a pressing danger, from which nor emperor, nor kings, nor sages, nor 
saints, could have saved me. It is my friend; dearer to me than all the 

honors and power of the earth But it may be objected, that this 

psalm is common to all ; no one has a right to call it his own. Yes ; but 
Christ is also common to all, and yet Christ is mine. I am not jealous of 

-.ny property; I would divide it with the whole world And would to 

God that all men would claim this psalm as especially theirs ! It would be 
the most touching quarrel, the most agreeable to God — a quarrel of union 
and perfect charity." — Martin Luther. 

Closet Promise. — It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and 
to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High : to show forth Thy loving- 
kindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night. — Psalm xcii. i. 

In studying the account of the manna sent to the Israelite host in the 
wilderness, the scholars of Rabbi beit Jochai once asked him " Why did not 
the Lord furnish enough manna to Israel for a year, all at one time ?" Then 
the teacher said : " I will answer you with a parable. Once there was a 
king who had a son to whom he gave a yearly allowance, paying him the 
entire sum on a fixed day. It soon happened that the day on which the 
allowance was due was the only day in the year when the father ever saw 
his son. So the king changed his plan, and gave his son day by day that 
which sufficed for the day. And now the son visited his father every morn- 
ing. Thus God dealt with Israel."" 



SATURDAY. 

Privileges of the Christian.— Heb. xii. 18-29. 



18 For ye are not come unto the mount that 
might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor 
unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 

19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the 
voice of words ; which voice they that heard 
entreated that the word should not be spoken 
to them any more : 

20 (For they could not endure that which 
was commanded. And if so much as a beast 
touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust 
through with a dart : 

21 And so terrible was the sight, thai Moses 
said, I exceedingly fear and quake :) 



22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and 
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jeru- 
salem, and to an innumerable company of angels. 

23 To the general assembly and church of 
the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and 
to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of 
just men made perfect, 

24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new 
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that 
speaketh belter things than iliat of Abel. 

25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh : 
for if they escaped not who refused him tliat 
spake on earth, much more shall not we escape. 



SATURDAY. 



359 



if we turn away from him that speaketh from 
heaven : 

26 Whose voice then shook the earth : but 
now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more 
I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 

27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth 
the removing of those things that are shaken, as 



of things that are made, that those things which 
cannot be shaken may remain. 

28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which 
cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby 
we may serve God acceptably with reverence 
and godly fear : 

29 For our God is a consuming fire. 



There is a sublime contrast in this lesson between the position or privilege 
of a worshipper under the Mosaic dispensation and that of a worshipper 
in the new kingdom of Christ. The Apostle says, " Ye are not come," as 
Christians, "unto the mount that might be touched;" "ye are come unto 
Mount Zion." Ye are not coine to that sight which was so terrible that 
even Moses said, " I exceedingly fear and quake;" but ye are come " to 
Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, 
that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Not ye are coming, but ye 
are come. It is present privilege. Ye liave come. Every true disciple af- 
filiated with Jesus belongs to this great household. 

You have come also "to an innumerable company of angels." You have 
come to them. Where ? It does not matter whether you see them — they 
see you. It does not matter whether you recognize thetn. The fact that 
we want to bear in inind is that we are environed by them ; that we move 
in their midst. How, where, what the philosophy is, no man can tell. The 
fact which we prize and lay hold of is this : that, as soon as we become 
Christ's, we come to the " innumerable company of angels." 

Closet Promise. — Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound ; 
they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name 
shall they rejoice all the day : and in Thy righteousness shall they be ex- 
alted. — Psalm Ixxxix. 15-16. 



So take Joy home. 
And make a place in thy great heart for her. 
And give her time to grow, and cherish her; 
Then will she come and sing to thee. 



When thou art working in the furrows ; ay, 
Or weeding in the sacred hour of dawn. 
It is a comely fashion to be glad — 
Joy is the grace we say to God. 

—Jeim Jngeloi 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good : for 
His mercy endureth for ever. — Psalm cxxxvi. I. 

Weekly Proverb. — Every little makes a mickle. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— JESUS AND LITTLE CHILDREN. 
Sunday. — The Infant Jesus. — Luke ii. 1-20. 
Monday. — The Child Jesus. — Matt. ii. 1-23. 



360 • TWENTY -EIGHTH WEEK. 

Tuesday. — The Boy Jesus. — Luke ii. 41-52. 
Wednesday. — A Little Child in His Lap. — Mark ix. 33-50. 
Thursday. — What He Says of Little Ones. — Matt, xviii. I0-20. 
Friday. — Jesus Blesses Little Children. — Mark x. 13-16. 
Saturday. — Little Ones Sing His Praises. — Matt. xxi. I- 1 7. 



BABY'S PICTURE. 



Two little shoes, 
Out at the toes, 
Trotting about, 
Where'er mother goes. 
Soiled gingham apron 
Put on just now — 
They do get so dirly 
No one knows Irow ; 
Little black face, 
Black each wee hand — • 
Been making mud pies. 
And playing in sand ; 
Dear precious head, 
Touzled and rough : 
Bright laughing eyes. 
Can't see enough ; 



This is our baby 
All day. 

Two little feet, 

Rosy and bare ; 

Two chubby hands. 

Folded in prayer ; 

Tired little head 

Dark ringed with hair; 

Soft baby face, 

Dimpled and fair; 

Starry bright eyes 

Heavy with sleep; 

Silvery sweet voice. 

Lisping — " Father us keep," 

This is our baby 

At night. — Christian at Work. 



Search the Scriptures. — John v. 39. 

Dear children, I trust you each have a Bible of your own. It is the 
Book of books. If you read it, and study it, and love its holy precepts, it 
will make you noble and honored men and women. A youth seeking for a 
place came to New York city, and, on inquiring at a counting-room if they 
wished a clerk, was told that they did not. He then spoke of the recom- 
mendations he had, one of which was from a highly respectable citizen. In 
turning over his carpet-bag to find his letters a book rolled out on the floor. 
"What book is that?" said the merchant. " It is the Bible, sir," was the 
reply. "And what are you going to do with that book in New York ? " 
The lad looked seriously into the merchant's face and replied, "/ promised 
my mother I would read it every day, and I shall do so." The merchant at 
once took him into his service, and in due time he became a partner in the 
firm, most respectable and prosperous. My little friends, the Bible will be 
your best friend in life. It will be the guide of your youth and the staff 
of your old age. It will give you comfort through life ; in its pages you 
will find solace when sick and weary, and its words will whisper hope and 
peace when you are dying. " Search the Scriptures." 



T^A^ENTY-NINTH V^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore 
such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. — Gal. vi. I. 



Teach me to feel another's woe. 
To hide the fault I see ; 



That mercy I to others show. 

That mercy show to me. — Selected. 



If the sun be eclipsed one day, it attracts more attention than by its clear 
shining a whole year. — Seeker. 

Many persons have quickness enough to discover their faults, who have 
not energy enough to eradicate them. — Mrs. H. B. Stowe. 

To reprove small faults with undue vehemence is as absurd as if a man 
should take a great hammer because he saw a fly on his friend's forehead. — 
Selected. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

A Gospel Worth Dying For. — Acts xx. 17-38. 



17 ^ And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, 
and called the elders of the church. 

18 And when they were come to him, he 
said unto them, Ye know, from the first day 
that I came into Asia, after what manner I 
have been with you at all seasons. 

19 Serving the Lord with all humility of 
mind, and vifith many tears, and temptations, 
which befell me by the lying in wait of the 
Jews : 

20 And how I kept back nothing that was 
profitable tailo you, but have shewed you, and 
have taught you publicly, and from house to 
house, 

21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to 
the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith 
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 

22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit 
unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that 
shall befall me there : 

23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in 
every city, saying that bonds and afHictions 
abide me. 

24 But none of these things move me, neither 
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I 
might finish my course \\\\.\\ joy, and the minis- 
try, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, 
to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 

25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, 
among whom I have gone preaching the king- 
dom of God, shall see my face no more. 



26 Wherefore I take you to record this day, 
that I am pure from the blood of all men. 

27 For I have not shunned to declare unto 
you all the counsel of God. 

28 ^ Take heed therefore unto yourselves, 
and to all the flock, over the which the Holy 
Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the 
church of God, which he hath purchased with 
his own blood. 

29 For I know this, that after my departing 
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not 
sparing the flock. 

30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, 
speaking perverse things, to draw away dis- 
ciples after them. 

31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by 
the space of three years I ceased not to warn 
every one night and day with tears. 

32 And now, brethren, I commend you to 
God, and to the word of his grace, which is 
able to build you up, and to give you an inherit- 
ance among all them which are sanctified. 

33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or 
apparel. 

34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands 
have ministered unto my necessities, and to 
them that were with me. 

35 I have shewed you all things, how that so 
labouring ye ought to support the weak, and 
to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how 
he said, It is more blessed to give than to re- 
ceive. 

(361) 



362 



TWENTY-NINTH WEEK. 



36 ^ And when he had thus spoken, he 
kneeled down, and prayed with them all. 

37 And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's 
neck, and kissed him, 



38 Sorrowing most of all for the words which 
he spake, that they should see his face no 
more. And they accompanied him unto the 
ship. 



Paul could not forget the friends whom he had left in Ephesus. Finding 
that the ship in which he was going to Jerusalem had to remain at Miletus 
for a few days, he sent to Ephesus and requested the elders of the church 
there to come to him. They gladly responded to his invitation, and when 
they had come he delivered to them the address which forms the subject of 
to-day's lesson. 

" For depth of pathos and fervor of appeal it seems to me to be well-nigh 
unrivalled even in Holy Writ. It quivers all through with emotion. There 
is love in every sentence, and a tear in every tone. We cannot read it with- 
out a choking utterance and a moistened eye, and when we reach its con- 
clusion we do not wonder that those to whom it was first addressed 'wept 
sore, and fell upon his neck and kissed him.' " — W. M. Taylor, D.D. 

" All the energies of Paul's spirit were consecrated to the pursuit of one 
object, viz. : that he might everywhere testify to the Gospel of the grace of 
God, and the life be here lived was only valued by him as a means to that 
end. This was his mission. He had been ' put in trust with the Gospel,' 
and he resolved to be faithful, though it should cost him his life. All be- 
lievers occupy a similar place." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

Closet Promise. — Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant 
knoweth not what his lord doeth : but I have called you friends • for all 
things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. — 
John XV. 15. 

That friendship is the very life of my life, the health of my countenance, 
the joy of my joys. With God for my friend, I pass through life in peace. 
He is all to me, and in fellowship with Him I find a joy which overshadows 
all that the world calls b)^ that name. With God for my friend, neither 
weakness nor the grave nor the judgment can alarm my soul. All is 
well. — Horatius Bonar. 

MONDAY. 

The Golden Bowl. — Eccles, xii. 



1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of 
thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor 
the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I 
have no pleasure in them ; 

2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon. 



or the stars, be not darkened> nor the clouds 
return after the rain : 

3 In the day when the keepers of the house 
shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow 
themselves, and the grinders cease because lliey 



MONDAY. 



363 



are few, and those that look out of the windows 
be darkened, 

4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, 
when the sound of the grinding is low, and 
he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and 
all the daughters of music shall be brought 
low: 

5. Also when they shall be afraid of that 
luhich is high, and fears shall he in the way, 
and the almond tree shall flourish, and the 
grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall 
fail : because man goeth to his long home, and 
the mourners go about the streets : 

6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the 
golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken 
at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cis- 
tern. 

7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as 
it was: and the spirit shall return unto God 
who gave it. 



8 \ Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; 
all is vanity. 

9 And moreover, because the Preacher was 
wise, he still taught the people knowledge ; yea, 
he gave good heed, and sought out, atici set in 
order many proverbs. 

10 The Preacher sought to find out accept- 
able words : and that which was written 7cii/s 
upright, even words of truth. 

1 1 The words of the wise are as goads, and 
as nails fastened (^j' the masters of assemblies, 
which are given from one shepherd. 

12 And further, by these, my son, be admon- 
ished : of making many books there is no end ; 
and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 

13 \ Let us hear ihe conclusicm of the whole 
matter: Fear God, and keep his command- 
ments: for this is the whole dztty of man. 

14 For God shall bring every work into 
judgment, with every secret thing, whether zt 
be good, or whether it be evil. 



Life is a trust of sacred and infinite import. It is given us for a purpose, 
and is not to be idled or frittered away. It is brief, and yet eternal issues 
hang upon it. 

" Old age is making haste ; and there are none of us that can be young 
long ; and many of us have already passed by our youth. Now, in the 
wisdom of God, the way to be happy in old age is the very way of being 
happy all our life. It should be borne in mind that in old age it is toe 
late to mend ; that then you must inhabit what you have built. Old age 
has the foundation of its joys and its sorrows laid in youth. You are 
building at twenty. Are you building for seventy ? A man's life is not 
like the contiguous cells in a bee's honey-comb; ifis more like the separate 
parts of a plant which unfolds out of itself, every part bearing relation to all 
that antecede. That which you do in youth is the root, and all the after 
parts, middle age and old age, are the branches and the fruits, whose char- 
acter the root will determine." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord knoweth the days of the upright. — Psalm 
xxxvii. 18. 



The twilight falls, the night is near ; 

I fold my work away. 
And kneel to one who bends to hear 

The story of the day. 

The old, old story ; yet I kneel 

To tell it at Thy call ; 
And cares grow lighter as I feel 

That Jesus knows them all. 

Yes, all! the morning and the night, 

The joy, tlie grief ihe loss. 



The roughened path, the sunbeam bri 
The hourly thorn and cross. 

Thou knowest all — I lean my head, 

My weary eyelids close, 
Content and glad awhile to tread 

This path, since Jesus knows. 

And He has loved me ! all my heart 
With answering love is stirred, 

And every anguished pain and smart 
Finds healing in the word. 



36! 



TWENTY-NINTH WEEK. 



. here I lay me down to rest, 
As mighty shadows fall, 



And lean confiding on His breast. 
Who knows and pities all. 

—Selected. 



TUESDAY. 

Praise and Trust. — Psalm xxxiv. 



1 I will bless the Lord at all times: his 
praise jZ/rt'// continually be in my mouth. 

2 My soul shall make her boast in the LoRD: 
the humble shall hear ihereof, and be glad. 

3 Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us 
exalt his name together. 

4 1 sought the Lord, and he heard me, and 
delivered me from all my fears. 

5 They looked unto him, and were lightened ; 
and their faces were not ashamed. 

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard 
him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 

7 The angel of the Lord encampeth round 
about them that fear him, and delivereth 
them. 

8 Oh taste and see that the Lord is good : 
blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 

9 Oh fear the Lord, ye his saints : for there 
is no want to them that fear him. 

13 The young lions do lack, and suffer hun- 
ger : but they that seek the Lord shall not want 
any good thing. 

1 1 Come, ye children, hearken unto me ; I 
will teach you the fear of the Lord. 



12 What man is he that desireth life, and 
loveth many days, that he may see good ? 

13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips 
from speaking guile. 

14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek 
peace, and pursue it. 

15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the right- 
eous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 

1 6 The face of the Lord is against them 
that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them 
from the earth. 

17 The righteous <:xy,z.x\A\\\e. Lord heareth, 
and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 

18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a 
broken heart ; and saveth such as be of a con- 
trite spirit. 

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous : 
but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. 

20 He keepeth all his bones : not one of 
them is broken. 

21 Evil shall slay the wicked : and they that 
hate the righteous shall be desolate. 

22 The Lord redeemeth the soul of his ser- 
vants : and none of them that trust in him shall 
be desolate. 



Thi.s Psalm is assigned to the occasion when David, persecuted by Saul, 
fled to the Philistines, and being brought before Achish, was driven away 
by him as a madman. Of this transaction, which reflects no credit upon 
David's memory, we have a brief account in i Sam. xxi. 

"Although the gratitude of the psalmist prompted him thankfully to re- 
cord the goodness of the Lord in vouchsafing an undeserved deliverance, yet 
he weaves none of the incidents of the escape into the narrative, but dwells 
only on the grand fact of his being heard in the hour of peril. We may learn 
from his example not to parade our sins before others, as certain vain- 
glorious professors are wont to do who seem as proud of their sins as old 
Greenwich pensioners of their battles and their wounds." — C. H. Spurgeoji. 

The Psalm is split into two great divisions at the close of verse 10. The 
first ten verses are a hymn, and the last twelve a sermon. In verses i to 3. 
David vows to bless the Lord, and invites the praise of others ; from 4 to 7, 
he relates his experience ; and in 8, 9, lO, exhorts the godly to constancy 
of faith. In verses 1 1-14, he gives direct exhortation, and follows it up by 
didactic teaching from verse 15 to the close. 




li^/&:^ 




THE SliXFLL WUMAN FURGIVEN. 
And He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. — Luke vii. 
364 



TUESDAY. 



365 



Closet Promise. — Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, and not 
be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song ; He also is 
become my salvation. — Isa. xii. 2. 

One thing the psalmist did, and this we all may do. We may say : " What 
time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee." Here is our rock in a weary land ; 
here is the bosom upon which we may lean ; and while resting here hope 
bids us look forward to the time when the Spirit's voice will recall our words 
and make them the instruments of awakening. There is no power equal to 
God's; no love, pity or patience like His own. Trusting in Him, we may 
say : " Lord, our failure and feebleness are counted as nothing when Thy 
Spirit is poured out to bless and save." 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Triumph of Faith.— Rom. viii. 18-39. 



18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this 
present time are not worthy to be compared with 
the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature 
waileth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 

20 For the creature was made subject to 
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who 
hath subjected the same in hope ; 

21 Because the creature itself also shall be 
delivered from the bondage of corruption into 
the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

22 For we know that the whole creation 
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until 
now. 

23 And not only they, but ourselves also, 
which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we 
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the 
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

24 For we are saved by hope : but hope that 
is seen is not hope : for what a man seeth, why 
doth he yet hope for ? 

25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do 
we with patience wait for //. 

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our in- 
firmities : for we know not what we should pray 
for as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh 
intercession for us with groanings which cannot 
be uttered. 

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth 
what is the mind of the Spirit, because he 
maketh intercession for the saints according to 
the7viIlof Q,oA. 

28 And we know that all things work together 
for good to them that love God, to them who are 
the called according to his purpose. 



29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did 
predestinate to he conformed to the image of his 
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many 
brethren. 

30 Moreover, whom he did predestinate, 
them he also called : and whom he called, them 
he also justified : and whom he justified, them 
he also glorified. 

31 What shall we then say to these things? 
If God be fur us, who can be against us? 

32 He that spared not his own Son, but de- 
livered him up for us all, how shall he not with 
him also freely give us all things? 

33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of 
God's elect ? // is God that justifieth. 

34 Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is 
even at the right hand of God, who also maketh 
intercession for us. 

35 Who shall separate us from the love of 
Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or perse- 
cution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or 
sword ? 

36 As it is written. For thy sake we are killed 
all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for 
the slaughter. 

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than 
conquerors through him that loved us. 

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, 
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor pow- 
ers, nor things present, nor things to come, 

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be al)le to separate us from the 
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 



The true Christian mu.st live, not in the thing.s that he sees, and handles, 
21 



3G6 TWENTY-NINTH WEEK. 

and kiiovv'.s, but in the things vvhicli he beheves. That is what the apostle 
means when he says in verse 24, " IVt' are saved by hope." Blessed be the 
man that, when he cannot bear the present, knows how to leap out of it and 
revel in a bright future. 

" We know that all things ivork togetlier for good to the7n that love God, to 
them who are the called according to His purpose!' That was Paul's testi- 
mony. " Tears dropped from his eyes like rain ; every single sense of his 
body ached with deprivation and persecution ; he was looked upon as the 
offscouring of the world ; he was beset by every conceivable mischief; yet 
still he cried, ' I know that all things work together for good.' How many 
of you have been led in the same way that Paul was ? There is no other 
tower like the certainty of God's care. It is a fortress that cannot be mined 
or blown up with powder ; that cannot be starved out or taken by storm ; 
that shall remain steadfast, and that shall make us rich." — H. W. Beecher. 

In verses 38-39, we have the nnseparated. It is not that the force of our 
love to God is so great that nothing can root it up. That is not the empha- 
sis of the passage ; it is that the love of God to us is so great that none of 
these things will ever move that procuring cause of good in Him. " God 
loves us so that neither law, nor power, nor earthly experience, nor heavenly 
adjudications, nor any human witnesses, nor any accusing spirits, nor any 
thing, shall quench, or cause to glow with one diminished ray the intensity 
of His love." 

Closet Promise. — Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. — Prov. 



Tired fathers, weary mothers, when is your happy day coming? Long 
sin^e you expected it to dawn. It is not here yet, nor will it ever be so long 
as you do not determine that it shall be to-day. This failure to take com- 
fort as you pass along life's pathway, but ever looking forward for all enjoy- 
ment of good, is throwing away the real sweets of life. You may as well 
attempt to store up summer sunshine to warm in winter, or bottle moonshine 
for cloudy nights. The real and only true way is to find in the present all 
the good God gives us. Our whole lives may be filled with joy if we are 
only willing to learn that in all good work there is profit, in all sorrow are 
some rays of sunshine, and in all care some compensation. Make the most 
of to-day. 



TWENTY-NINTH WEEK. 



367 



THURSDAY. 

Mighty to Save. — Isa. Ixiii. 1-9. 



1 Who is this that cometh from Edoni, willi 
dyed garments from Bozrah ? this ^/lai is glorious 
in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his 
strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty 
to save. 

2 Wherefore ari thoti red in thine apparel, 
and thy garments like him that treadcth in the 
winefat ? 

3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and 
of the people there was none with me : for I 
will tread them in mine anger, and tr:-mple 
them in my fury; and their blood shall be 
sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain 
all my raiment. 

4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, 
and the year of my redeemed is come. 

5 And I looked, and there was none to help ; 
and I wondered that there 7uas none to uphold : 



therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto 
me ; and my fury, it upheld me. 

6 And I will tread down the people in mine 
anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I 
will bring down their strength to the earth. 

7 T[ I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the 
Lord, (7K(/ the praises of the Lord, according 
10 all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and 
the great goodness toward the house of Israel, 
which he hath bestowed on them according to 
his mercies, and according to the multitude of 
his lovingkindnesses. 

8 For he said. Surely they are my people, 
children that will not lie : so he was their 
Saviour. 

9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and 
the Angel of his presence saved them : in his 
love and in his piiy he redeemed them; and he 
bare them and carried them all the days of old. 



There is here God's pledge that he will set Himself against our need, and 
supply it. " Mighty to save." 

" I understand the Lord Jesus Christ to take men, not because when 
they are converted they are clean, but because they are willing to be taken. 
He takes them in all their poorness, and leanness, and irregularities, and 
says, ' I am willing to carry you and bear with 3^ou through your whole life 
if I can see that in the end my love and patience will bring you into the en- 
joyment of the eternal inheritance.' It is that cleansing, forgiving, enduring, 
remedial love of Christ Jesus that gives a man hope. When wrong rises up 
in me, I feel that there is something higher than that. When my sins lie in 
the horizon, I see also in the horizon a sun that turns all my sins into clouds 
of glory. It is the faithfulness of Christ, and the wonderful power of 
Christ's love to redeem men finally from all sin, that gives me hope and 
comfort. I am encouraged, not because I am good, but because I am in 
the hand of One who will never leave me nor forsake me. There is an am- 
plitude, and power, and grandeur, and glory in the love of Christ, in which 
the poorest man, if he is onl)' conscious of what a Master he has, can stand 
up and say, ' Though I be sinful, I rejoice in the Lord.' " — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — Mighty to save. — Isa. Ixiii. i. 



Mine is a day of fear and strife, 
A needy soul, a needy life, 
A needy world, a needy age ; 
Yet, in my perilous pilgrimage, 
I CiSt my sold on thee, 



Mighty to save e'eh me, 
Jesus, Thou Son of God. 

' To Thee I come — ah ! only Thou 
Canst wipe the sweat from off this brow ; 



368 



TWENTY-NINTH WEEK. 



Thou, only Thou, canst make me whole, 
And soothe the fever of my soul ; 
I cast my soul on Thee, 



Mighty to save e'en me, 
Jesus, Thou Son of God.'' 



FRIDAY. 

The Contrast in Eternity. — Luke xvi. 19-31. 



19 ^ There was a certain rich man, which 
was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared 
sumptuously every day : 

20 And there was a certain beggar named 
Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of 
sores, 

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs 
which fell from the rich man's table : more- 
over the dogs came and licked his sores. 

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, 
and was carried by the angels into Abraham's 
bosom : the rich man also died, and was buried ; 

23 And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in 
torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and 
Lazarus in his bosom. 

24 And he cried and said. Father Abraham, 
have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he 
may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool 
my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 

25 But Abraham said. Son, remember that thou 
in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and 



likewise Lazarus evil things : but now he is 
comforted, and thou art tormented. 

26 And beside all this, between us and you 
there is a great gulf fixed : so that they which 
would pass from hence to you cannot ; neither 
can they pass to us, that would come from 
thence. 

27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, 
father, that thou wouldst send him to my 
father's house : 

28 For I have five brethren ; that he may 
testify unto them, lest they also come into this 
place of torment. 

29 Abraham saith unto him. They have Mo- 
ses and the prophets ; let them hear them. 

30 And he said. Nay, father Abraham : but 
if one went unto them from the dead, they will 
repent. 

31 And he said unto him, If they hear not 
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be 
persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 



The great truth suggested here is that by the allotments of His providence 
in the present world God does not distinguish between the righteous 
and the wicked. We must look beyond ; the difference will be clearly 
made at the end of the world. 

" The one dwelt in magnitude of earthly fame. He touched the springs 
of material power. His life was full of praise and glory, but they were of 
a lower kind. And when he died out of his earthly estate he rose into that 
land where they do not take copper for gold, nor lead for silver. There he 
is nothing, altliough he was everything here. And that man whom he dis- 
dained to look at; that man whom he despised; that man who thought 
much, and loved to do good, but who was poor and of no repute, is every- 
thing there. There went up heavenward a I'adiant procession, amidst an 
outburst of song, heralding the approach of some bold conqueror, crown- 
less and sceptreless. It was the resurrected spirit of this servant of God. 
He lived at the bottom here, but there he lives in eternal fame." — H. W. 
Beecher. 

Are we bearing His cross? Then Christ waits for us. Are we living in 
selfishness? Then there is no road between us and God that does not 
break short on the gulf between earth and heaven. 



369 



Closet Promise. — When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall 
ye also appear with Him in glory. — Col. iii. 4. 

Oh, comforting and exalting thought ! that the weakest and most imper- 
fect yet true child of God, who possessed any real faith or real love, is thus 
at last "glorified together with Christ" — their confessions of sin forever 
over; their sense of their own emptiness lost in a sense of Christ's fulness; 
their ardent longings for unsullied holiness gratified as no faith or foretaste 
here realized, even feebly, in their hours of most pious fervor. — Norman 
Maclcod, D.D. 

SATURDAY. 

Self-Consecration.— 2 Cor. viii. 1-15. 



1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of 
the grace of God bestowed on the churches 
of Macedonia; 

2 How that, in a great trial of affliction, the 
abundance of their joy and their deep poverty 
abounded unto the riches of their liberality. 

3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and 
beyond their power they were willing of them- 
selves ; 

4 Praying us with much entreaty that we 
would receive the gift, and take upon us the fel- 
lowship of the ministering to the saints. 

5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but 
first gave their own selves to the Lord, and 
unto us by the will of God. 

6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he 
had begun, so he would also finish in you the 
same grace also. 

7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in 
faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all 
diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye 
abound in this grace also. 

8 I speak not by commandment, but by occa- 
sion of the forwardness of others, and to prove 
the sincerity of your love. 



9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your 
sakes he became poor, that ye through his pov- 
erty might be rich. 

10 And herein I give my advice : for this is 
expedient for you, who have begun before, not 
only to do, but also to be forward a year 
ago. 

11 Now therefore perform the doing of it ; 
that as there was a readiness to will, so there 
may be a performance also out of that which 
ye have. 

12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is 
accepted according to that a man hath, and not 
according to that he hath not. 

13 For I mean not that other men be eased, 
and ye burdened : 

14 But by an equality, that now at this time 
your abundance may be a supply for their want, 
that their abundance also may be a supply for 
your want; that there may be equality: 

15 As it is written, He that had gathered 
much had nothing over; and he that had gath- 
ered little had no lack. 



The fact of self-consecration the apostle gives as the motive power of 
Macedonian liberality. God wants more than our money — He wants our- 
selves, our love. If self is consecrated, that will settle all else. What to do 
and what not to do will be no longer a debatable question. 

Perfect consecration is the secret of the highest safety. Billy Bray quaintly 
said: " I resolved to be nothing; for the devil cannot get hold of nothing!' 
In a consecrated man there is nothing for Satan to appeal to — no ready re- 
sponse to his seductions. 

" Some time ago a man came to his home, exclaiming, ' Wife, I have made 
my will — I have made my will ! ' His companion was startled, and inquired, 
' What do you mean, husband? ' He replied, 'I have been willing body, soul 



370 



TWENTY -NINTH WEEK. 



and spirit — all that I am, and all that I have, to Jesus ! ' That was the best 
day's work the man had ever done. Joy divine filled his heart and house ! 
With such sacrifices God is well pleased." — Guide to Holiness. 



Closet Promise. - 

self. — Psalm iv. 3. 



-The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Him- 



It has been truly said : " Consecration is not wrapping one's self in a holy 
web in the sanctuary, and then coming forth after prayer and twilight med- 
itating, and saying, ' There, I am consecrated.' Consecration is going out 
into the world where God is, and using every power for His glory. It is 
taking all advantages as trust funds — as confidential debts owed to God. 
It is simply dedicating one's life in its whole flow to God's service." 

It would be true consecration as expressed by Madame Guyon : 



' I place an offering at that shrine, 
From taint and blemish clear, 

Simple and pure in its design, 
Of all that I hold dear. 



' I yield Thee back Thy gifts again. 
Thy gifts which most I prize. 

Desiring only to retain 

The notice of Thine eyes." 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



Breakfast Motto. - 
Weekly Proverb. 



-In everything give thanks. — I Thess. v. 1 8. 
-The world is his who has patience. — Italian. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— BIBLE CHILDREN. 

Sunday. — An Obedient Boy. — Gen. xxii. 1-19. 
Monday. — The Faithful Little Sister. — Ex. ii. i-io. 
Tuesday. — The Boy-Preacher. — i Sam. iii. 1-2 1. 
Wednesday. — A Little Boy King. — 2 Kings xxii. 1-20. 
Tlnirsday. — Only a Baby. — 2 Sam. xii. 15-23. 
Friday. — The Temperance Boy. — Dan. i. 1-2 1. 
Saturday. — A Bible-Loving Boy. — 2 Tim. iii. 1-17. 



HELPFUL LITTLES. 



I'm only a little stray sunbeam, 

I can't do much, you know, 
To brighten the world as I pass along. 

But I'll do what I can as I go. 
Perhaps some little corner 

Would lie darker without my light; 
If that be true, it's my duty to try 

And make that corner bright. 

Such a wee, wee little birdie, 

And my voice is not very strong; 



No doubt, in a crowd of singers 
You would scarcely hear my song, 

For it's only a feeble effort 
When I do my very best; 

But if I can't sing to the wide world 
I can sing for my home nest. 

Just a little drop of water, 
What good can one drop do? 

But the blade of grass it fell on 
Was refreshed and greener grew, 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER 



371 



Then, little drops, you know, make up 
The rivers and ocean wide. 

Though only a drop, I, too, must help 
To swell this wondrous tide. 

Such a tiny wayside flower, 
'Most hidden among the grass, 

Men go on hurriedly by me, 
Nor notice me as they pass. 

But then, if this spot is gladder 
For my growing here, I know, 



It is just what God designed for me, 
And so I'll continue to grow. 

Just a little boy or girl 

Doing the best they can. 
She grows up to thoughtful womanhood. 

And he to an enrnest man. 
But all along life's journey 

Heart and hand find work to do, 
For the " fields are white to harvest. 

And the laborers are few." 

—Selected. 



Who went about doing good. — Acts x. 38. 

It was Jesus " who went about doing good." He was a missionaiy ; and 
we ought to be missionaries Hke Jesus. I want to tell you some things j'ou 
can do. Do you know of any sick children or old people near you ? If 
so, carry some flowers or fruit to them. Is there a blind person in 3-our 
neighborhood? Make a visit and ask if you can't read to them. I wish all 
my little friends would become regular tract distributers. I will tell you 
how I have the children of my church do sometimes. We will suppose the 
name of one little girl is Mary. Well, I give Mary six tracts and five 
houses to go to near by her own home. She starts out at 9 o'clock every 
Sunday morning. She leaves one tract at each of the five houses and tells 
the people that she will call and get it next Sunday if they will read it. 
Now, you see, when she gets round she has one tract left over — the sixth 
one. She starts out with that next Sunday, and when she takes up the one 
they have read in the first house she gives them that in return ; then she 
gives the one she just took up to the next house and takes up theirs. So 
all round. I hope you will become a little tract girl or boy. 



THIRTIETH V\AEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— To every man his work.— Mark xiii. 34. 



God doth not need 
Either man's works or His own gifts. Who best 
Bear his mild yoke they serve Him best. His 
state 



Is kingly ; thousands at His bidding speed, 
And post o'er land and ocean without rest; 
They also serve who only stand and wait. 

—Selected. 



Not to enjoy life, but to employ life, ought to be our aim and in.spiration. 
—Macditff. 

The more God empties your hands of other works, the more ye may 
know He has special work to give them. — Garret. 

Perhaps your Master knows what a capital plowman you are ; and He 
never means to let you become a reaper, because you do the plowing so well. 
— Spurgeon. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

True Disciples. — Matt. v. 



-26. 



1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into 
a mountain : and when he was set, his disciples 
came unto him : 

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, 
saying, 

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is 
the kingdom of heaven. 

4 Blessed rtr^ they that mourn : for they shall 
be comforted. 

- 5 Blessed are the meek : for they shall in- 
herit the earth. 

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and 
thirst after righteousness ; for they shall be 
filled. 

7 Blessed are the merciful ; for they shall ob- 
tain mercy. 

8 Blessed are the pure in heart : for they 
shall see God. 

9 Blessed are the peacemakers ; for they shall 
be called the children of God. 

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for 
righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom 
of heaven. 

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, 
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of 
evil against you falsely, for my sake. 

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great 
is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted they 
the prophets whjch were before you. 

(372) 



13 ^ Ye are the salt of the earth : but if the 
salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be 
salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but 
to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of 
men. 

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that 
is set on a hill cannot be hid. 

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it 
under a busliel, but on a candlestick ; and it 
giveth light unto all that are in the house. 

r6 Let your light so shine before men, that 
they may see your good works, and glorify your 
Father which is in heaven. 

17 IfThink not that I am come to destroy the 
law, or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, 
but to fulfil. 

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and 
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise 
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of 
these least commandments, and shall teach men 
so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom 
of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach 
them, the same shall be called great in the 
kingdom of heaven. 

20 For I say unto you, that except your right- 
eousness shall exceed the righteousness of the 
scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter 
into the kingdom of heaven. 



SUNDAY. 373 



21 ^ Ye have heard that it was said by them of 
old time, Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever 

shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment : 

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is 
angry with his brother without a cause shall be 
in danger of the judgment : and whosoever shall 



24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and 
go thy way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, 
and then come and offer thy gift. 

25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, while 
thou art in the way with him ; lest at any time 
the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the 

say to his brotlitr, Raca, shall be in danger of I judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be 
the council ; but whosoever shall say. Thou fool, cast into prison, 
shall be in danger of hell fire. 

23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the 
altar, and there rememberest that thy brother 
hath aught against thee ; 



pri, 

26 Verily I say unto thee. Thou shalt by ) 
means come out thence, till thou hast paid the 
uttermost farthing. 



" How to be happy " is everybody's question. Jesus answers it in these 
" beatitudes." True happiness is zvitliin. None are so rich as those who 
are poor in spirit. None so sure of comfort as those who turn unto God 
for consolation. All things are his who has God. The desire for right- 
ousness is the only one not liable to be disappointed. " Mercy turns her 
back to the unmerciful." In order to see God we must be like Him. The 
peacemakers are blessed of God, and in the hearts of men. God has re- 
wards greater than the injuries of men can inflict. Here Christians are 
called " the salt of the earth." They are to be the saviors of others. Chris- 
tians are "the light of the world." Christians are the lights lighted — Christ 
the Light ligJiting^ — St. Augustine. 

" The Pharisee displays his light — the true Christian simply lets his light 
sJwie." — Abbott. 

"A sunbeam has no more power to shine if it be severed from the sun 
than a man has to give light in this dark world if he be parted from Jesus 
Christ. Cut the current and the electric light dies, slacken the engine and 
the electric arc becomes dim, quicken it and. it becomes bright." — A. Mac- 
laren. 

" Do not be a dark lantern, burning with the shades down, and illuminat- 
ing nothing and nobody." — A. Maclarcn. 

Closet Promise. — My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and 
in. sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. — Isa. xxxii. 18. 



Oh, come and see ! oh look, and look again ! 

All shall be right; 
Oh, taste His love, and see that it is good. 

Thou child of night! 
Oh, trust Him — trust Him in His grace and 
power — ■ 

Then all is bright ! 



Then shall thy tossing soul find anchorage 

And steadfast peace ; 
Thy love shall rest on His; thy weary doubts 

Forever cease ; 
Thy heart shall find, in Him and in His 
grace, 

Its rest and bliss." 



374 THIRTlIiTH WEEK. 



MONDAY. 

" Out of the Depths." — Psalms cxxix., cxxx. 

1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my I i Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O 
youth, may Israel now say : Lord. 

2 Many a time have they afflicted me from 2 Lord, hear my voice : let thine ears be at- 
my youth ; yet they have not prevailed against tentive to the voice of my supplications. 

me. I 3 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, 

3 The ploughers ploughed upon my back : O Lord, who shall stand ? 

they made long their furrows. 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou 

4 The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asun- \ mayest be feared. 

der the cords of the wicked. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, 

5 Let them all be confounded and turned and in his word do I hope. 

back that hate Zion. 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than 

6 Let them be as the grass upon the house- they that watch for the morning; T say, more 
tops, which withereth afore it groweth up: 

7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand ; 
nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. 

8 Neither do they which go by say. The 
blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless 
you in the name of the Lord. 



than they that watch for the morning. 

7 Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the 
Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous 
redemption. 

8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his in- 
iquities. 



In Psalm cxxix. the poet sings of the trials of Israel, the interposition of 
the Lord, and the unblessed condition of Israel's foes. In Psalm cxxx. he 
describes the rise of the soul from the deep of self-condemnation to the 
height of hope in God. Psalm cxxx., " perhaps more than any other, is 
marked by its mountains; depth; prayer; conviction; light; hope; waiting; 
watching; longing; confidence; assurance.; universal happiness and joy. . . . 
Just as the barometer marks the rising of the weather, so does this psalm, 
sentence by sentence, record the progress of the soul. And you may test 
yourself by it, as by a rule or measure, and ask yourself at each line, ' Have 
I reached to this? Have I reached to this? ' and so take your spiritual 
gauge." — jfaines Vatighan. 

Luther, when he was buffeted by the devil at Coburg, and in great afflic- 
tion, said to those about him : " Come, let us sing that psalm, ' Out of the 
depths,' etc., in derision of the devil." 

" When, therefore, we are troubled by heavy sickness, or poverty, or 
oppressed by the tyranny of man, let us make profit and use thereof, con- 
sidering that God hath cast His best children into such dangers for their 
profit, and that it is better to be in deep dangers praying, than on the moun- 
tains of vanity playing." — Archibald Symson. 

Closet Promise. — Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the 
upright in heart. — Psalm xcvii. 11. 

" What though mortal powers may falter? I E'en to that within the veil. 

Earthly plans and prospects fail ? All is light, all is light ! " 

With a heaven-born hope which entereth | 



]M O N D A V 



;75 



What though all my future pathway 
Be from niorlal light concealed ? 
With the love of Jesus glowing, 



As it lies to faith revealed, 
All is light, all is light!" 



TUESDAY. 

The Christian's Rest.— Heb. 



1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being 
left us of entering into his rest, any of you 
should seem to come short of it. 

2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as 
well as unto them : but the word preached did 
not profit them, not being mi.xed with faith in 
them that heard it. 

3 For we which have believed do enter into 
rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, 
if they sh^ll enter into my rest : although the 
works were finished from the foundation of the 
world. 

4 For he spake in a certain place of the sev- 
enth day on this wise, And God did rest the 
seventh day from all his works. 

5 And in this place again, If they shall enter 
into my rest. 

6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some 
must enter therein, and they to whom it was 
first preached entered not in because of unbe- 
lief: 

7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in 
David, To-day, after so long a time ; as it is 
said, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden 
not your hearts. 

8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then 
would he not afterward have spoken of another 
day. 



9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the 
people of God. 

10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also 
hath ceased from his own works, as Goe' did 
from his. 

1 1 Let us labour therefore to enter into that 
rest, lest any man fall after the same example of 
unbelief. 

12 For the word of God is quick, and pow- 
erful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, 
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul 
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is 
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the 
heart. 

13 Neither is there any creature that is not 
manifest in his sight : but all things ai-e naked 
and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we 
have to do. 

14 Seeing then that we have a great high 
priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the 
Son of God, let us hold fast e?/;- profession. 

15 For we have not a high priest which can- 
not be touched with the feeling of our infirm- 
ities ; but was in all points tempted like as tve 
cr^, j'^/ without sin. 

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the 
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and 
find grace to help in time of need. 



The apostle lays it down as a principle, that " those who believe," and 
they only, " enter into rest." There is a I'est of faith. It is very commonly 
thought that rest is alone realized in heaven. This is a mistake — there is 
rest here — sweet, delightful rest. It is realized by faith — by a simple, child- 
like acceptance of the gracious provisions of the Gospel. In what does it 
consist — how does it manifest itself? " It is rest from the condemning sen- 
tence of violated law — it is rest from the crushing weight of earthly care — 
it is rest from the fear of death and judgment." 

What an encouragement we have in verses 14-16. We may "come 
boldly to the throne of grace " because of two things — first, God's sympa- 
thy ; and second, God's perfect knowledge of all our wickedness. 

"'That we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need! We 
go not to exonerate ourselves, not to plead our righteousness ; we go boldly, 
saying, ' Thou knowest that I am sinful, but Thou sentest Thy Son to atone 
for sins; I am sick, but Thou hast the medicine for souls that are sick; I 
am wicked, but Thou art He that delightest to forgive wickedness.' We are 



376 



THIRTIETH WEEK. 



to go boldly to God's throne, because He is so full of mercies for our want; 
so full of goodness for our wickedness ; so full of forgiveness for our sins. 
And God's knowledge of what we are, and all we do, instead of being an 
argument for fear, is an argument for confidence." — H. W. Beedier. 



Closet Promise.- 

God. — Heb. iv. o. 



-There reniaineth therefore a rest to the people of 



" He leads us on. 
By paths we do not know ; 
Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow. 
Though oft we faint and falter by the way, 
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the 
day. 
Yet when the clouds are gone 
We know He leads us on. 

" He leads us on 
Through all the unquiet years ; 
Past all our dream-land hopes, and doubts and 
fears. 



He guides our steps. Through all the tangled 

maze 
Of sin, of sorrow, and o'erclouded days. 

We know His will is done : 

And still He leads us on. 

"And He, at last. 
After the weary strife. 
After the restless fever we call life. 
After the dreariness, the aching pain. 
The many struggles which have proved in 
vain, — 
After our toils are past, — 
Will give us rest at last." 



WEDNESDAY. 

Christian Behavior.— Ephes. iv. 17-32. 



17 This I say therefore, and testify in the 
Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gen- 
tiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 

18 Having the understanding darkened, being 
alienated from the life of God through the igno- 
mnce that is in them, because of the blindness 
of their heart : 

19 Who being past feeling have given them- 
selves over unto lasciviousness, to work all un- 
cleanness with greediness. 

20 But ye have not so learned Christ ; 

21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have 
been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus : 

22 That ye put off concerning the former 
conversation the old man, which is corrupt ac- 
cording to the deceitful lusts ; 

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your 
mind ; 

24 And that ye put on the new man, which 
after God is created in righteousness and true 
holiness. 

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every 



man truth with his neighbour: for we are mem- 
bers one of another. 

26 Be ye angry, and sin not : let not the sun 
go down upon your wrath : 

27 Neither give place to the devil. 

28 Let him that stole steal no more : but 
rather let him labour, working with his hands 
the thing which is good, that he, may have to 
give to him that needeth. 

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out 
of your mouth, but that which is good to the use 
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the 
hearers. 

30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, 
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemp- 
tion. 

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, 
and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away 
from you, with all malice : 

32 And be ye kind one to another, tender- 
hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for' 
Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 



This chapter treats of the ca/Zhig- and co/tducf of the Christian. Let us 
specially note verse 26. 

"'Be angry and sin not:' — the easiest charge under the hardest con- 
dition that can be. He that will be angry and not sin, let him be angry at 
nothing but sin." — y. Trapp. 



WEDNESDAY. 



377 



" Forgiveness before sundown ! He who never feels the throb of indigna- 
tion is imbecile. He who can walk among the injustices of the world in- 
flicted upon himself and others, without flush of cheek, or flash of eye, or 
agitation of nature, is either in sympathy with wrong or semi-idiotic. It all 
depends on what you are angry at, and how long the feeling lasts, whether 
anger is right or wrong." — Dr. Talmage. 

"Anger in itself is no sin, but it has a tendency to become so rapidly if 
it be harbored too long. Like the manna, it corrupts and breeds worms if 
kept over night in the close chamber of the heart. Then it will appear in 
the morbid shapes of spite, malice, revenge. The Christian rule is to throw 
it all away before the fermentation commences." — Dean Goulburn. 



Closet Promise.- 

earth. — Matt. v. 5. 



-Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the 



Be angry and sin not. All anger is not sinful. We are to lay aside 
anger because it will give place to the devil. Anger is involuntary. Jesus 
was angry. God is said to become angry. It is natural and right, but it 
becomes sinful if wrongly directed, or if there be an inadequate cause 
for it. Too often we cultivate anger ; we nurse our wrath to keep it warm. 
A natural manifestation of wrath or indignation is manly, and is often abso- 
lutely necessary to resent an injury. It should not be violent nor long con- 
tinued. Old Thomas Fuller said. As we put out the fire to go to bed, so 
let us put out the fire of wrath. Let not the sun go down upon our wrath, 
otherwise the gates of the soul will be open to the Prince of Evil. An 
angry man is liable to become the prey to many sinful indulgences. As the 
apostle puts it, he gives place to the devil. Thou.sands are in prison for 
what they have done in moments of anger. 



THURSDAY. 

Praying Daniel. — Dan. vi. 10-24. 



10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing 
■was signed, he went into his house ; and, his 
windows being open in liis chamber toward Je- 
rusalem, he kneeled upon liis knees three times 
a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his 
God, as he did aforetime. 

n Then these men assembled, and found 
Daniel praying and making supplication before 
his God. 

12 Then they came near, and spake before 
the king concerning the king's decree; Hast 
thou not signed a decree, that every man tliat 
shall ask a petition of any gn.l or man within 
thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast 



into the den of lions? The king answered and 
said. The thing is true, according to the law of 
the Medes and Persians, which alterelh not. 

13 Then answered they and said before the 
king. That Daniel, which is of the children of 
the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O 
king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but 
maketh his petition three limes a day. 

14 Then the king, when he heard these words, 
was sore displeased with himself, and set his 
heart on Daniel to deliver him : and he la- 
boured till the going down of the sun to deliver 
him. 

15 Then these men assembled unto the king, 



378 



THIRTIETH WEEK. 



and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the 
law of the Medes and Persians is, That no de- 
cree nor statute which the king establisheth may 
be changed. 

1 6 Then the king commanded, and they 
brought Daniel, and cast hit?i into the den of 
lions. Nozu the king spake and said unto 
Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continu- 
ally, he will deliver thee. 

17 And a <tone was brought, and laid upon 
the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it 
with his own signet, and wiih the signet of his 
lords; that the purpose might not be changed 
concerning Daniel. 

18 f Then ihe king went to his palace, and 
passed the night fasting : neither were instru- 
ments of munic brought before him : and his 
sleep went from him. 

19 Then the king arose very early in the 
morning, and went in haste unto the den of 
lions. 

20 And when he came to the den, he cried 
with a lamentable voice unto Daniel : and the 
king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, ser- 



vant of ihe living God, is thy God, whom thou 
servest continually, able to deliver thee from the 
lions? 

21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, 
live for ever. 

22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath 
shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt 
me: forasmuch as before him innocency was 
found in me ; and also before thee, O king, 
have I done no hurt. 

23 Then was the king exceeding glad for 
him, and commanded that they should take 
Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was 
taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt 
was found upon him, because he believed in his 
God. 

24 And the king commanded, and they 
brought those men which had accused Daniel, 
and they cast them into the den of lions, them, 
their children, and their wives; and the lions 
had the mastery of them, and brake all their 
bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom 
of the den. 



No matter what the circu instances of his life were, Daniel prayed: when 
an obscure attendant at the court, he prayed ; when prime minister of the 
kingdom, surrounded by idolatry and dissipation, he prayed; when threat- 
ened with death by his enemies, still he prayed. 

" Variations in fortune like those through which he passed are the most 
severe tests to which a man's fidelity to God can be subjected. Few men 
hold themselves in the same attitude toward God during all the changes in 
their lives. Solomon, for instance, often called upon God when, as the 
youthful king, he felt the great responsibilities of his office ; but afterward, 
when prosperity attended him, he turned aside to idols ; while, on the other 
hand, Peter, faithful to his Master while enjoying the blessings of His pres- 
ence, denied Him in the hour of trial. Boldly does Daniel's example stand 
out in contrast with these. Surely no man ever had a more plausible excuse 
for relinquishing at least his outward allegiance to God than he. How hu- 
man would it have been after learning that the king had signed the decree 
that was aimed at his life to have modified his conduct, to have prayed in 
secret instead of at the open window, and then to have satisfied his con- 
science by reasoning, as no doubt many in this easy going, politic age would 
have done if placed in his position : ' It will be wise for me to refrain from 
prayer during these mere thirty days; the Lord will understand my heart, 
and under the circumstances will surely excuse me, and thus by a little 
harmless policy I shall escape death, and will be spared to labor for Him in 
future years.' But, no; Daniel did not thus confer with flesh and blood. 
If such specious excuses were suggested by Satan, they found no encourage- 



THURSDAY. 



379 



ment in his breast. He realized that whatever the circumstances of his Hfe^ 
and whatever others might do under such circumstances, the only safe thing 
for him was to cling to God ; and this he did until God in His own good 
time sent deliverance." — Rev. Charles C. Cook. 

Closet Promise. — Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in Him ; 
and He shall bring it to pass. — Psalm xxxvii. 5. 

Paul Gerhardt, a noble German preacher and poet, was once driven from 
his pulpit by the electors of Brandenburg, and forced to leave his home. 
One night, during a weary journey through a forest, going he knew not 
where, he stopped with his wife and children at a little inn. After supper 
he went out alone under the stars to tell his troubles to his Father in heaven. 
Thoughts of comfort came to him, and before he slept he wove them into 
the following verses : 

Nor file, nor sword, nor plague, from Thee, 
My trusting soul shall sever. 

" No hunger and no thirst. 
No poverty nor pain, 
Let mighty princes do their worst, 
Shall frighten me again." 



"At cost of all I have. 

At cost f>f life and limb, 
I cling to God, who yet shall save ; 
I will not turn from Him. 

" The world may fail and flee. 
Thou standest fast forever. 



That very night he was roused from deep slumber by a message from a 
stranger, who insisted on seeing him immediately. The man was a messen- 
ger from Duke Christian Meresburg, who had heard of Gerhardt's trouble, 
and had sent to invite him to his dominions, with the offer of "church, 
people, house, home, and livelihood," with every comfort that could be 
added. 

FRIDAY. 
The Missionary Psalm. — Psalm xcvi. 



1 O sing unto the Lord a new song : sing 
unto the Lord, all the earth. 

2 Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew 
forth his salvation from day to day. 

3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his 
wonders among all people. 

4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be 
praised ; lie is to be feared above all gods. 

5 For all the gods of the nations 'are idols : 
but the Lord made the heavens. 

6 Honour and majesty are before him : 
strength and beauty are in his s.inctuary. 

7 Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the 
people, give unto the Lord gloiy and strength. 

8 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his 
name : bring an offering, and come into his 
courts. 



9 Oh worship the Lord in the beauty of holi- 
ness : fear before him, all the earth. 

10 Say among the heathen that the Lord 
reigneth : the world also shall be established 
that it shall not be moved : he shall judge the 
people righteously. 

1 1 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth 
be glad ; let the sea roar, and the fulness 
thereof. 

12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is 
therein : then shall all the trees of the wood 
rejoice 

13 Before the Lord : for he cometh, for he 
Cometh to judge the earth : he shall judge the 
world with righteousness, and the people with 
his truth. 



This is properly a millennial anthem. Unquestionably, the design of the 



380 



THIRTIETH WEEK. 



Holy Ghost, in inspiring this grand Psalm, was " to give forth a song for the 
Gentiles, a triumphant hymn wherewith to celebrate the conversion of the 
nations to Jehovah in gospel times." " It is a missionary hymn for all ages 
of the church ; and it becomes more and more aippropriate to our times in 
proportion as the heathen begin to respond to the call, ' Sing unto the Lord 
anew,' and in proportion as we find in the melancholy condition of the 
church at home occasion to look with a hopeful eye towards the heathen 
world." — E. W. Hengstenberg. 

^'Declare His gloiy among the heathen." This is the duty of all Christians. 
His salvation is His glory. The word of the gospel glorifies Him; and this 
should be published far and wide, till the remotest nations of the earth have 
known of it. It is not only a part of the great commission given to the 
ministers of the gospel ; but it is the commission of every follower of the 
Christ to have a care that they who never did hear of Him, may know what 
He is, what He hath done and suffered, and what good may be had by His 
mediation. 

Closet Promise. — Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 

world. — Matt, xxviii. 20. 



' Always with us, always with us ; — 

Words of cheer and words of love ; 
Thus the risen Saviour whispers, 

From His 'dwelling-place above. 
With us when we toil in sadness, 

Sowing much, and reaping none ; 
Telling us that in the future 

Golden harvests shall be won. 



' With us when the storm is sweeping 

O'er our pathway dark and drear ; 
Waking hope within our bosoms, 

Stilling every anxious fear. 
With us in the lonely valley, 

When we cross the chilling stream ; 
Lighting up the steps to glory 

With salvation's radiant beam." 



SATURDAY. 

The Fall of Jericho.— Josh. vi. 



1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because 
of the children of Israel ; none went out, and 
none came in. 

2 And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I 
have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king 
thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 

3 And ye shall compass the city, all j'^ men 
of war, and go round about the city once. 
Thus shalt thou do six days. 

4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark 
seven trumpets of rams' horns : and the seventh 
day ye shall compass the city seven times, and 
the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 

5 And it shall come to pass, that when they 
make a long blast with the ram's horn, attd 
when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the 
people shall shout with a great shout ; and the 
wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the 
people shall ascend up every man straight be- 
fore him. 



6 ^ And Joshua the son of Nun called the 
priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of 
the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven 
trumpets of rams' horns befote the ark of the 
Lord. 

7 And he said unto the people, Pass on, and 
compass the city, and let him that is armed pass 
on before the ark of the Lord. 

8 ^ And it came to pass, when Joshua had 
spoken unto the people, that the seven priests 
bearing the seven trumpets of rams' liorns 
passed on before the Lord, and blew with the 
trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord followed them. 

9 ][ And the armed men went before the 
priests that blew with the trumpets, and the 
rearward came after the ark, ths priests going 
on, and blowing with the trumpets. 

10 And Joshua had commanded the people, 
saying. Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise 




CHRIST AT THE HOUSE OF MARY AND MARTHA. 

But one thing is needful ; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall 
not be taken away from her. — Luke x. 42. 



SATURDAY. 



381 



with your voice, neither shall any word proceed 
out of your mouth, until the day I bid you 
shout ; then shall ye shout. 

1 1 So the ark of the Lord compassed the 
city, going about it once ; and they came into 
the camp, and lodged in the camp. 

12 ^ And Joshua rose early in the morning, 
and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 

13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets 
of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord went 
on continually, and blew with the trumpets ; 
and the armed men went before them ; but 
the rearward came after the ark of the Lord, the 



priests going on, and blowing with the trum- 
pets. 

14 And the second day they compassed the 
city once, and returned into the camp. So they 
did six days. 

15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, 
that they rose early about the dawning of the 
day, and compassed the city after the same 
manner seven times: only on that day they 
compassed the city seven times. 

16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, 
when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua 
said unto the people. Shout; for the Lord hath 
given you the city. 



This chapter gives us the taking of Jericho, one of those very cities, 
" great and walled up to heaven," which had discouraged the heart of the 
people forty years before. The Lord Himself arranged the plan of the cap- 
ture, and in it, I believe, gave us a sample of the " fight of faith." The people 
of Israel had no weapons of warfare with which to meet their enemies, nor 
any battering rams for those mighty walls. They had nothing but their 
God and their faith. Their part was simply to march and to shout. The 
Lord's part was to make the walls fall down, and to conquer their enemies. 
Now, it is clear that we have our Jerichos to take as truly as Joshua and 
the children of Israel had theirs. There is the conquest of ourselves ; the 
conquest of the world for Christ ; the overthrow of all the powers of infidelity 
and wickedness; wherever they manifest themselves. " Our sufificiency is of 
God ; " therefore we are confident. Real faith never relies upon the arm of 
flesh, no matter how strong, but upon the " arm of the Lord." The Israel- 
ites received a command to go and take Jericho, and they went. They went 
round once, but not a brick fell. They went round a second time, and a 
third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time, and still all the bricks were there, firmly 
cemented, and the walls stood. Nevertheless, the Israelites held in their 
hands the promise, and they felt it in their hearts, and they went round the 
last time and the walls fell. The walls of our Jerichos will not fall, until 
by faith we are ready to shout at the word of the Lord. God gives the 
victory to a victorious, shouting faith. 

Closet Promise. — We may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I 
will not fear what man shall do unto me. — Heb. xiii. 6. 



O for the spirit which is content with nothing less nor lower than the 
highest help. To turn in temptation directly to the power of God ; to cry 
out in sorrow for God's company ; to be satisfied in doubt with nothing 
short of the assurance that God gives ; to know that there is no real escape 
from sin except in being made holy by God's holiness — these are what make 
22 



382 THIRTIEITH WEJEK. 

a man's complete salvation. It is your privilege and mine, as children of 
God, to be satisfied with no help but the help of the Highest. — Phillips Brooks. 

THK CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto, — He careth for you. — I Pet. V, 7. 
"Weekly Proverb. — Those who live in glass houses should not throw 
stones. — English. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SCENES IN THE LIFE OF JOSEPH. 
Sunday. — His Coat of Many Colors. — Gen. xxxvii. i-ii. 
Monday. — Sold into Egypt. — Gen. xxxvii. 12-36. , 

Tuesday. — The Secret of His Success. — Gen. xxxix. 1-6. 
Wednesday. — He is Cast into Prison. — Gen. xxxix. 21-23; ^1. I-23. 
Thursday. — Pharaoh's Two Dreams. — Gen. xli. 1-36. 
Friday. — Joseph Exalted. — Gen. xli. 37-57. 
Saturday. — The Unknown Brother. — Gen. xlii. 1-38. 



^NYLk.1 TO COVET. 



I must not turn with envious eyes, 
On aught that others may possess ; 

Or wish, whatever God denies, 

To make their sum of blessings less. 

Is there, then, nought beneath, above. 
That I may covet to possess ? 



Yes, there's the Saviour's boundless love, 
With which He waits my soul to bless ! 

To me, this treasure, Lord, impart ; 

Thy pardoning grace, oh ! let me prove ; 
Write Thou Thy Laws upon my heart, 

And make me covet all Thy Love ! 

—Selected. 



Your brother. — Gen. xlv. 4. 

Dear children, how nice it is for brothers and sisters to be loving toward 
each other ! A little boy seeing two nestling birds pecking at each other, 
inquired of his elder brother what they were doing. " They are quarrelling," 
was the answer. " No," replied the child, " that cannot be : they are broth- 
ers." Do you, my little friends, quarrel, when you are playing ? I will 
give you a good rule to stop quarrels : "Always let the angry person have 
the quarrel to himself." That will soon stop it. Let me tell you about two 
loving children. A brother and sister loved one another very much. He 
was the older, and was taken ill, and died. They laid him out on his own 
little bed ; and the mother took his little sister to look at him. As she 
stood looking at his sweet face, as white and cold as marble, she wept very 
much. At last she said,^ " Mother, may I take hold of his hand?" Mother 
did not like to let her, it was so cold ; but, after a little time, she placed it 
in hers ; when the dear child, lifting it up, and stroking it gently, said, 
" This little hand never struck me ! " Wasn't that beautiful, children ? May 
you so act toward each other, that you can each say the same. 



RELIGIOUS LIFE. 

Home should be made intensely religious. We may display the best 
traits of character in the family ; we may be content with the refined and 
innocent enjoyments of the household; yet without religion the family will 
be as a splendidly furnished parlor on a midwinter's day witho>ut fire to 
cheer and comfort. There is nothing which adds more to the brightness 
and educating power of a home than a family altar. There ought to be at 
least a fragment of holy time in every twenty-four hours; a few moments of 
meditation on divine things ; a suggestion of the holy and the infinite ; and 
an established family altar helps to suggest these divine things. 

J. G. Holland thus writes of the religious hour in the home of his boy- 
hood days : " The hour of evening has come, the lamps are lighted, and a 
good man in middle life — though very old he seems to me — takes down the 
well-worn Bible, and reads a chapter from its hallowed pages. A sweet 
woman sits at his side, with my sleepy head upon her knee, and brothers 
and sisters are grouped reverently around. I do not understand the words, 
but I have been told that they are the words of God, and I believe it. The 
long chapter ends, and then we all kneel down, and the good man prays. I 
fall asleep with my head in the chair, and the next morning remember 
nothing of the way in which I went to bed. After breakfast the Bible is 
taken down, and the good man prays again ; and again and again is the 
worship repeated through all the days of the many golden years. The 
pleasant converse of the fireside, the simple songs of home, the words of 
encouragement as I bend over my school-tasks, the kiss as I lie down to 
rest, the patient bearing with the freaks of my restless nature, the gentle 
counsel mingled with reproofs and approvals, the sympathy that meets and 
assuages every sorrow and sweetens every little success — all these return to 
me amid the responsibilities which press upon me now, and I feel as if I had 
once lived in heaven, and, straying, had lost my way." 

George Herbert, among his " Charms and Knots," has these quaint lines : 

Who goes to bed and doth not pray, 
Maketh two nights to every day. 

Not only should there be family prayer, but individual private prayer. 
Here is a beautiful form, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, entitled, " The Child's 
Evening Prayer : " 



Ere on my bed my limbs I lay, 

God grant me grace my prayers to say ! 

O God, preserve my mother dear 

In health and strength for many a year. 

And oh, preserve my father too, 

And may I pay him rev'rence due ; 

And may I my best thoughts employ 

To be my parents' hope and joy ! 



My sisters and my brothers both 
From evil guard, and save from sloth. 
And may we always love each other, 
Our friends, our father, and our mother! 
And still, O Lord, to me impart 
A contrite, pure, and grateful heart, 
That after my last sleep I may 
Awake to Thy eternal day. Amen. 



(385) 



THIRTY-FIRST \VEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — And a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from 
the tempest. — Isa. xxxii. 2. 



I know His sheltering wings of love 

Are always o'er me spread, 
And though the storms may fiercely rage, • 



All calm and free from dread. 
My peaceful spirit ever sings, 
" I'll trust the covert of Thy wings." 

—Mrs. T. Small. 



It is the peculiar business of Faith's eye to see in the dark. — Toplady. 

Lest the gloom should appall us, God braids the cloud with sunshine. — 
Bonar. 

Unclasp the ivy from the elm, and it is prostrate at once. Thank God, 
if He keeps us realizing, amidst the busiest work, and the pleasantest suc- 
cess, that we have no power at all of ourselves to help ourselves ! Then 
there will be nothing to hinder His " continual help." As long as we say 
quite unreservedly, " My help cometh from the Lord," the help will come. 
— F. R. Havergal. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Fear Not." — Isaiah xliii. 1-13. 



1 But now thus saith the Lord that created 
thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Is- 
rael, Fear not : for I have redeemed thee, I 
have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. 

2 When thou passest through the waters, I 
will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they 
shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest 
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; 
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 

3 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy 
One of Israel, thy Saviour : I gave Egypt y^or thy 
ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. 

4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou 
hast been honourable, and I have loved thee : 
therefore will I give men for thee, and people 
for thy life. 

5 Fear not ; for I atn with thee ; I will bring 
thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the 
west : 

6 I will say to the north, Give up ; and to the 
south, Keep not back : bring my sons from far, 
and my daughters from the ends of the earth ; 

7 Even every one that is called by my name : 

(386) 



for I have created him for my glory, I have 
formed him ; yea, I have made him. 

8 \ Bring forth the blind people that have 
eyes, and the deaf that have ears. 

9 Let all the nations be gathered together, 
and let the people be assembled : who among 
them can declare this, and shew us former 
things ? let them bring forth their witnesses, that 
they may be justified ; or let them hear, and say, 
// is truth. 

10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and 
my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may 
know and believe me, and understand that I arn 
he : before me there was no God formed, neither 
shall there be after me. 

Ill, even I, am the LoRD; and beside me 
there is no saviour. 

12 I have declared, and have saved, and I 
have shewed, when there was no strange god 
among you : therefore ye are my witnesses, saith 
the Lord, that I am God. 

13 Yea, before the d^iy'was I am he; and 
there is none that can deliver out of my hand : 
I will work, and who shall let it? 



SUNDAY. 



387 



Fire and water are often used in the Scriptures to denote calamity — the 
latter because it overwhelms ; the former because it consumes. But oceans 
of fear and rivers of danger, fiery temptations and burning persecutions con- 
tain no real evil to those who trust in God. The redeemed are above the 
reach of danger, however many their fears. 

" We never prize the precious words of promise till we are placed in con- 
ditions in which their suitability and sweetness are manifested. We all of 
us value those golden words, 'When thou walkcst through the fire, thou shalt 
not be burned, neither shall tlie flame kindle upon thee ; ' but few, if any, of us 
have read them with the delight of the martyr Bilney, to whom this passage 
was a stay while he was in prison awaiting his execution at the stake. His 
Bible, still preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 
has the passage marked with a pen in the margin. Perhaps, if all were 
known, every promise in the Bible has borne a special message to some one 
saint, and so the whole volume might be scored in the margin with memen- 
tos of Christian experience, every one appropriate to the very letter." — C. 
H. Spurgeon. 



Closet Promise. — Fear not; fori have redeemed thee, 
thee by thy name ; thou art Mine. — Isa. xliii. I. 



have called 



' My gracious Redeemer, Thou art my delight, 
My trust, my dependence, my all ; 
No one half so lovely, so dear to my sight — 
.On Thee, and Thee only I call ; 



My Shepherd to lead me in pastures of love, 
To guard me by night and by day ; 

My kind Intercessor in glory above. 
My light, my salvation, my way." 



MONDAY. 

Separation. — 2 Cor. vi. 



1 We then, as workers together with him, 
beseech you also that ye receive not the grace 
of God in vain. 

2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time 
accepted, and in the day of salvation have I 
succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted 
time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 

3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the 
ministry be not blamed: 

4 But in all things approving ourselves as the 
ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, 
in necessities, in distresses, 

5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in 
labours, in watchings, in fastings ; 

6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffer- 
'ng, by kindness, by the Hnly Ghost, by love 
unfeigned, 

7 By the wor of truth, by the power of God, 
by the armour of righteousness on the right 
hand and on the left, 



8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report 
and good report : as deceivers, and jv/ true ; 

9 As unknown, and yet well known ; as dy- 
ing, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not 
killed ; 

10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, 
yet making many rich ; as having nothing, and 
yet possessing all things. 

11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto 
you, our heart is enlarged. 

12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are 
straitened in your own bowels. 

13 Now for a recompense in the same, (I 
speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged. 

14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with 
unbelievers : for what fellowship hath righteous- 
ness with unrighteousness ? and what commun- 
ion hath light with darkness? 

15 And what concord hath Christ with Be- 



388 



THIRTY-FIRST WEEIK. 



lial ? or what part hath he that believeth with an 
infidel ? 

i6 And what agreement hath the temple of 
God with idols? for ye are the temple of the 
living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in 
them, and walk in them; and I will be their 
God, and they shall be my people. 



17 Wherefore come out from among them, 

and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch 
not the unclean thing ; and I will receive you, 

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye 
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
Almighty. 



A Christian must be separated. In him should be verified the prophecy 
of Balaam : " Israel shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the 
nations." 

There can be no consecration without separation from. "A garden enclosed 
(Hebrew word ' barred ') is my sister, my spouse," saith the Heavenly 
Bridegroom. 

" Be not glued to the world. Let not the world be like the skin on 
the hand, that will not easily come ofT; but like the glove on your hand, 
or the hat on your head, that you can easily part with." — RalpJi Er- 
skhte. 

" A Christian is like Jacob's ladder ; while his body, that lower part, 
stands on the ground, the top, his higher and better part, is in heaven. He 
that hath the living waters of Jesus flowing in his heart, is mad if he stoop 
to the puddles of vanity, or seek content in the world. Yea, such a one 
will scarce descend to lawful pleasures, but for God's allowance and nature's 
necessity ; and then but as the eagle, who lives aloft, and stoops not but for 
her prey." — Adams. 

Closet Promise. — I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me. — 
Sol. Song vii. 10. 

" Blessed is he that understandeth what it is to love Jesus, and to despise 
himself for Jesus' sake. 

" Thou oughtest to leave thy beloved for the Beloved ; for Jesus will be 
loved alone above all things. 

" Thy Beloved is of such a nature that He will admit of no rival, but will 
have thy heart alone, and sit on His own Throne as King." — Thomas 
A'Kempis. 

TUESDAY. 

The Parable of the Sower. — Mark iv. 1-20. 



I And he began again to teach by the sea 
side : and there was gathered unto liim a great 
multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat 
in the sea ; and the whole multitude was by the 
sea on the land. 



2 And he taught them many things by par- 
ables, and said unto them in his doctrine, 

3 Hearlcen ; Behold, there went out a sower 
to sow : 

4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell 



TUESDAY. 



389 



by the way side, and the fowls of the air came 
and devoured it up. 

5 And some fell on stony ground, where it 
had not much earth ; and immediately it sprang 
up, because it had no depth of earth : 

6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; 
and because it had no root, it withered away. 

7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns 
grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 

8 And other fell on good ground, and did 
yield fruit that sprang up and increased ; and 
brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and 
some a hundred. 

9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears 
to hear, let him hear. 

10 ^ And when he was alone, they that were 
about him with the twelve asked of him the 
parable. 

11 And he said unto them. Unto you it is 
given to know the mystery of the kingdom of 
God : but unto them that are without, all these 
things are done in parables : 

12 That seeing they may see, and not per- 
ceive ; and hearing they may hear, and not un- 
derstand ; lest at any time they should be con- 
verted, and their sins should be forgiven them. 



13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this 
parable? and how then will ye know all par- 
ables ? 

14 The sower soweth the word. 

15 And these are they by the way side, where 
the word is sown ; but when they have heard, 
Satan Cometh immediately, and taketh away the 
word that was sown in their hearts. 

16 And these are they likewise which are 
sown on stony ground ; who, when they have 
heard the word, immediately receive it with 
gladness; 

17 And have no root in themselves, and so 
endure but for a time : afterward, when afflic- 
tion or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, 
immediately they are offended. 

18 And these are they which are sown 
among thorns ; such as hear the word, 

19 And the cares of this world, and the de- 
ceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things 
entering in, choke the word, and it becometh 
unfruitful. 

20 And these are they which are sown on 
good ground ; such as hear the word, and receive 
it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty-fold, some 
sixty, and some a hundred. 



The Sower : Our Lord Himself; and then all Christian people. The 
Seed: God's word. The Ground: The heart. 

We have here four kinds of hearers: i. The careless hearer. 2. The 
temporary hearer. 3. The worldly-minded hearer. 4. The sincere hearer. 

The careless hearer is the wayside hearer. " The proposals made to the 
wayside hearer suggest nothing at all to him. His mind throws off Christ's 
offers as a slated roof throws off hail. You might as well expect seed to 
grow on a tightly-braced drum-head as the Word to profit such a hearer; 
it dances on the hard surface, and the slightest motion shakes it off." — 
Marcus Dods. 

The temporary hearer is the stony-ground hearer. Stony-ground is cold ; 
what colder than a stone ? These persons are without spiritual warmth. 
Withering is their fate. 

The worldly-minded hearer is the thorny-ground hearer. There is nutrimen-t 
enough in the ground for thorns, and enough for wheat; but not enough, 
in any ground, for both wheat and thorns. God or the world — not both. 

The sincej^e hearer is the good-ground hearer, i. Such understand the 
word. 2. They receive it. 3. They retain it. 4. They practice it. 

Closet Promise. — Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh right- 
eousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways. — Isa. Ixiv. 5. 



Retire, O my soul, from the busy world, and employ thyself about that 



390 



THIRTY-FIRST WEEK. 



for which thou wert created : the contemplation of thy God. I will hasten 
to my closet or yonder solitary walk, and there sequestered from a vexatious 
world I will not suffer a single thought of it to approach me unless by way 
of pity and contempt. 

How delightful is it, O my soul, for thee to enjoy this sweet communion 
with thy God, and thus to dwell upon divine objects. Here am I safe and 
at rest in this dear place of quiet, and earnestly pity all the men of business 
and hurry, whose heads are full of perplexing contrivances to procure a little 
happiness in a world where there is no such thing. 

O blessed freedom ! O charming solitude ! I will grasp you, and I will 
hold you fast — the delight of silence and retreat! Here I can unburthen 
my soul and pour it out before my God. Here I can wrestle with the 
powers of heaven, and not let them go till I have obtained a blessing. Here 
I can confess my sins, and with hopes of comfort lay open my troubled 
breast before the merciful Hearer of my prayers. — Thomas Ken. 



WEDNESDAY. 



A Happy People. — Psalm cxliv. 



1 Blessed be the Lord my strength, which 
teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to 
fight : 

2 My goodness, and my fortress ; my high 
tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in 
whom I trust ; who subdueth my people under 
me. 

3 Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowl- 
edge of him ! or the son of man, that thou 
makest account of him ! 

4 Man is like to vanity : his days are as a 
shadow that passeth away. 

5 Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come 
down : touch the mountains, and they shall 
smoke. 

6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them : 
shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. 

7 Send thine hand from above ; rid me, and 
deliver me out of great waters, from the hand 
of strange children ; 

8 Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their 
right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 

9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God : 



upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings 
will I sing praises unto thee. 

10 // is he that giveth salvation unto kings : 
who delivereth David his servant from the hurt- 
ful sword. 

11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand 
of strange children, whose mouth speaketh 
vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of 
falsehood : 

12 That our sons may bez.1, plants grown up 
in their youth ; that our daughters 7nny be as 
corner stones, polished after the similitude of a 
palace : 

13 That our garners may be full, affording all 
manner of store ; that our sheep may bring 
forth thousands and ten thousands in our 
streets : 

14 That our oxen maybe strong to labour; 
that there be no breaking in, nor going out; 
that there be no complaining in our streets. 

15 Happy is that people, that is in such a 
case : yea, happy is that people, whose God is 
the Lord. 



In the closing verses of this Psalm David gives a delightful picture of that 
people " whose God is the Lord." 

David prays for the rising generation. He prays that the sons of that 
generation might be in their youth " as plants grcavn np" that is, that their 
piety might not only live, but that their godliness might be fully expressed. 



WEDNESDAY. 391 

" Our sons are of first importance to the state, since men take a leading 
part in its affairs, and what the young men are the older men will be. He 
desires that they may be like strong, well-rooted, young trees, which promise 
great things. If they do not grow in their youth, when will they grow ? 
If in their opening manhood they are dwarfed, they will never get over it. 
O the joys which we may have through our sons ! And, on the other 
hand, what misery they may cause us ! Plants may grow crooked, or in 
some other way disappoint the planter, and so may our sons. But when we 
see them developed in holiness, what joy we have of them ! " — C. H. Spiir- 
geon. 

David prays also " that our daiigliicrs may be as corner-stones, polished 
after the shnilitude of a palace" Daughters unite families as corner-stones 
join walls together, and at the same time they adorn them as polished stones 
garnish the structure into which they are builded. 

" Home becomes a palace when the daughters are maids of honor, and 
the sons are nobles in spirit; then the father is a king, and the mother a 
queen, and royal residences arc more than outdone. A city built up of 
such dwellings is a city of palaces, and a state composed of such cities is a 
republic of princes." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will 
plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole 
soul. — Jer. xxxii. 41. 

We are often speculating on what is to come ; whether the years shall 
bring life or death, prosperity or sorrow. 

You who trust that you are God's dear children through faith in Jesus 
Christ may take one answer as regards the coming years ; you are going 
forth into nothing but goodness. "All things work for good to them that 
love God." I cannot say that you may not be going forward to meet 
trouble, toil, disappointment. It may be; but I repeat it, if you are walking 
at God's side you are going forward to nothing but good ; great goodness 
is laid up for you on the simple condition of your trust in God. Take the 
truth as a fact, and not as a poetic fancy ; God has great goodness laid up 
for me. If the worst which I fear shall come to pass, I shall find His good- 
ness laid up in the heart of the disaster. Be thankful, as you " know " that 
with God as your guide you cannot be travelling any road which does not 
lead to something better. — Dr. M. R. Vincent. 



392 



THIRTY-FIRST WEEK, 



THURSDAY. 



"As Pilgrims." 

1 1 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers 
and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which 
war against the soul : 

12 Having your conversation honest among 
the Gentiles : that, whereas they speak against 
you as evil doers, they may by your good works, 
which they shall behold, glorify God in the day 
of visitation. 

13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of 
man for the Lord's sake : whether it be to the 
king, as supreme; 

14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are 
sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, 
and for the praise of them that do well. 

15 For so is the will of God, that with well 
doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of 
foolish men : 

16 As free, and not using you7'\\be.rty for a 
cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of 
God. 

17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. 
Fear God. Honour the king. 

18 Servants, be subject to your mz.ste.xs with 
all fear ; not only to the good and gentle, but 
also to the froward. 



Pet. ii. 



-25. 



19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for con- 
science toward God endure grief, suffering 
wrongfully. 

20 For what glory is ii, if when ye be buffeted 
for your faults, ye shall take it patiently ? but 
if, when ye do well, and suffer for ii, ye take it 
patiently, this is acceptable with God. 

21 For even hereunto were ye called: be- 
cause Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an 
example, that ye should follow his steps : 

22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found 
in his mouth : 

23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not 
again; when he suffered, he threatened not; 
but committed himself to him that judgeth 
righteously : 

24 Who his own self bare our sins in his 
own body on the tree, that we, being dead to 
sins, should live unto righteousness : by whose 
stripes ye were healed. 

25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but 
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop 
of your souls. 



" If men have been termed pilgrims, and life a journey, then we may add 
that the Christian pilgrimage far surpasses all others in the following impor- 
tant particulars : in the goodness of the road — in the beauty of the pros- 
pects — in the excellence of the company — and in the vast superiority of the 
accommodation provided for the Christian traveller when he has finished 
his course." — Colton. 

If we are going to heaven there are 

1. Things with which we can have nothing to do. " Fleshly lusts, which 
war against the soul " (ver. 11). Though we do meet with traveller's fare 
sometimes, yet it should not be grievous to us. Consider what your condi- 
tion is — you are pilgrims and strangers ; do not think to satisfy yourselves 
here. 

"A man when he comes into an inn, if there be a fair cupboard of plate, 
is not troubled that it is not his own. Why ? Because he is going away. 
So let us not be troubled when we see other men have great estates, but we 
have not. Why? We are going away into another country." — Burroughs. 

2. Things with which we have to do. " By our good works glorify God " 
(ver. 12). "The gospel of Jesus is not to be a voice crying in the desert, 
like that of John the Baptist; but, if I understand religion, it is to open 
shop, it is to freight ships, it is to keep accounts, it is to write up your 



THURSDAY. 



393 



ledgers, it is to wear an apron till it be as holy as a bishop's sleeve, and to 
wield a spade as responsibly and devoutly as a monarch sways a sceptre. 
The true characteristic of religion is to go down into everything, rise up to 
the highest, till, like the atmosphere, it embraces all in its beneficent and 
its beautiful folds." — Ciminiing. 

Closet Promise. — For we know that if our earthly house of this taber- 
nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens. — 2 Cor. v. I. 

Let us pursue our child's play while we are children, but do not let us 
be engrossed by it ; and if our baby-houses and castles fall to pieces, do not 
let it grieve us over-much. When the evening comes, and we must needs 
seek shelter, we shall not be able to find it in any such make-believe dwell- 
ings, but only in our Father's house. — Saint Francis de Sales. 

FRIDAY. 

Bread Upon the Waters. — Eccles. xi. 



1 Cast thy bread upon the waters : for thou 
shalt find it after many days. 

2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; 
for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon 
the earth. 

3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty 
themselves upon the earth : and if a tree fall to- 
ward the south, or toward the north, in the 
place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. 

4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow ; 
and he that regardeth the clouds shall not 
reap. 

5 As thou knowest not what is the way of 
the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the 
womb of her that is with child: even so thou 
knowest not the works of God who maketh all. 

6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the 
evening withhold not thine hand : for thou 



knowest not whether shall prosper, either this 
or that, or whether they both shall be alike 
good. 

7 Truly, the light is sweet, and a pleasant 
thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun : 

8 But if a man live many years, mid rejoice 
in them all ; yet let him remember the days of 
darkness ; for they shall be many. All that 
Cometh is vanity. 

9 \ Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth ; 
and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy 
youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and 
in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou, that 
for all these things God will bring thee into 
judgment. 

10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, 
and put away evil from thy flesh : for childhood 
and youth are vanity. 



The figure here used is as beautiful as it is striking. There is no rainfall 
in Egypt ; the land is dependent for its fertility on the annual overflow of 
the Nile. Rice is the staple of food, and this is sown literally upon " the 
waters," either from boats or by wading in. When the waters subside the 
seed takes root, and, the soil enriched by the alluvial deposits, the seed 
springs up and yields a rich hai-vest. 

So every Christian act is an act of faith. It is throwing seed into the 
river. It is co-operating with God. To sow at any other time than at the 
annual overflow would be to waste the seed. A wise man will be careful to 
observe the times and seasons in all his efforts to do good and to get good- 



394 



THIRTY-FIRST WEEK. 



" The outcome, where the conditions are met, is as sure as the laws of 
nature. So sure as the Nile will rise and overflow its banks at the appointed 
time ; so sure as the rice cast upon the bosom of the turbid waters will seek 
the bottom and there vegetate and ripen its grain in the sunshine, so sure 
will bread cast upon the spiritual waters, in faith and in conjunction with 
the spirit and providence, ' be found after many days' Weeks, months, 
years may intervene between' the sowing and the reaping — between the act 
of faith and the divine fulfilment, but there will be no failure ! ' Thou slialt 
find it.' The word of God hath spoken it. The Nile may dry up and the 
earth refuse her increase, but the word of God shall stand ! " 

Closet Promise. — The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall 
trust in Him. — Psalm Ixiv. lo. 



I cannot say, 
Beneath the pressure of life's cares to-day, 
I joy in these; 



But I can say 
That I had rather walk this rugged way, 
If Him it please. 

— S- G. Browning. 



SATURDAY. 

' The Song of Holy Confidence." — Psalm xlvi. 



1 God is our refuge and strength, a very 
present help in trouble. 

2 Therefore will not we fear, though the 
earth be removed, and though the mountains be 
carried into the midst of the sea ; 

3 Though the waters thereof roar and be 
troubled, though the mountains shake with the 
swelling thereof. Selah. 

4 Thej-e is a river, the streams whereof shall 
make glad the city of God, the holy place of 
the tabernacles of the Most High. 

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not 
be moved : God shall help her, and that right 
early. 



6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were 
moved : he uttered his voice, the earth melted. 

7 The Lord of hosts is with us ; the God of 
Jacob is our refuge. Selah. 

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, 
what desolations he hath made in the earth. 

9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of 
the earth ; he breaketh the bow and cutteth the 
spear in sunder ; he burneth the chariot in the 
fire. 

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will 
be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted 
in the earth. 

1 1 The Lord of hosts is with us ; the God 
of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. 



Happen what may, the Lord's people are happy and secure, this is the 
doctrine of this Psalm. It will probably be best remembered as Luther's 
Psalm. 

" Luther and his companions, with all their bold readiness for danger and 
death in the cause of truth, had times when their feelings were akin to those 
of a divine singer, who said, ' Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? ' But 
in such hours the unflinching Reformer would cheerily say to his friend 
Melanchthon, ' Come, Philip, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm.' " — S. W. 
Christophers. 

''God is our refuge and strength^ " Soldiers of the cross, remember this, 



SATURDAY. 



395 



and count yourselves safe, and make yourselves strong in God. Forget not 
the personal possessive word ^ our;' make sure each one of your poition in 
God, that you may say, ' He is my refuge and strength.' Neither forget 
the fact that God is our refuge just now, in the immediate present, as truly 
as when David penned the word. God alone is our all in all. All other 
refuges are refuges of lies, all other strength is weakness, for power be- 
longeth unto God : but as God is all-sufficient, our defence and might are 
equal to all emergencies." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — God is our refuge and strength, a very present help 
in trouble. — Psalm Ixvi. I. 



One of the gifted writers of our time — Marianna Farmingham — has said : 



' It is no dream, Great Comforter, 

But very truth to me, 
That all earth's strengthless, fainting ones 
May be made strong ia Thee. 

' The years have taught me many things, 

But none so sure as this ; 
That shelter, solace, joy and strength 
Are always where God is. 

• So now, when hope and courage fail. 
And only fear is strong. 



My heart will sing, as in the past. 
An unforgotten song. 

' God is my refuge and my strength, 

I will not be afraid ; 
And though the night be wild and dark, 
I meet it undismayed. 

' The strength to bear, or work, or wait. 

Is Thine, O Lord, to give ; 
And who shall weak and strengthless be, 

That learns in Thee to live? " 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — I have been young, and now am old ; yet have I not 
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. — Psalm xxxvii. 25. 
Weekly Proverb. — A liar is sooner caught than a cripple. — Italian. 

DAII.Y BIBLE READING.— SCENES IN THE LIFE OF JOSEPH. 

Simday. — Joseph Entertains His Brethren. — Gen. xliii. 1-34. 

Monday. — Judah Pleading for Benjamin. — Gen. xliv. 1-34. 

Tuesday. — Joseph Makes Himself Known. — Gen. xlv. 1-15. 

Wednesday. — He Sends for His Father. — Gen. xlv. 16-28. 

Thursday. — Jacob Starts for Egypt.— Gen. xlvi. 1-7. 

Friday. — Joseph Meets Jacob. — Gen. xlvi. 26-34. 

Saturday. — Joseph Introduces His Father to Pharaoh. — Gen. xlvii. I-I2. 



I'LL TRY" AND "I WILL.' 



"I'll Try" is a soldier; 

" I Will " is a king; 
Be sure they are near 

When the school-bells ring. 



When the school-days are over, 

And boys are men, 
" I'll Try " and " I Will " 

Are good friends then. 

—Selected. 



396 THIRTY-FIRST WEEK. 

Our sister. — Rom. xvi. I. ' 

I am going to talk to the little brothers to-day. I will tell you a true 
story about one little brother, and then I want to ask what you think of 
him. Little Anna lay in bed, near a window. She was very sick ; her 
cheeks were red with fever. In the same room was her brother Robert, 
busily engaged in making a ship. His poor sister could ill bear the noise 
of the hammer, but he worked on as though he did not care. " Do, please, 
dear Robert, give me a glass of water ! my throat is so dry, and my head 
aches so very much ! " said Anna, in a gentle voice. Again was the loud 
knocking of the hammer heard; and once more Anna begged for a glass of 
cold water ; when Robert called out sharply, " Wait a minute, Anna ; I can't 
fetch it yet." At last he poured out a glass from a pitcher which was warm 
from standing in the sun. " Oh, not that water, Robert ! Please fetch me a 
little fresh and cool from the spring." " Don't plague me so, Anna : you see 
how busy I am. I am sure that water is good enough." Knock, knock, 
went the hammer again. " Oh, my poor head ! " she said. That was the 
last time that Anna asked Robert to do anything for her. The next day 
she died. Now, what kind of a brother was Robert ? — Don't you think 
him very selfish ? Was he not an unkind boy ? Be good and kind to little 
sister. 



WAITING. 

Did you ever go fishing ? That is what the children in the picture are 
doing. One boy has cast in his Hne just where the water forms a httle pool 
as it comes tumbling down from the stream above. And now they are all 
just as quiet as can be — waiting for a bite, and to see the cork go under. 

Now, children, if you have ever fished, you know it takes patietiee. If you 
do not get a bite right away, you must learn to wait. If you do not catch 
anything in one place try another. And this thing, patietiee, is one great 
secret of all success in life. An old Eastern proverb says : " Patience is 
power. With time and patience, the mulberry leaf becomes satin." If you 
don't rise to the first positions right away, have patience. Be willing to 
wait ; if you persevere, and do right, you will in time succeed. Tamerlane 
used to relate to his friends an anecdote of his early life. " I once," said he, 
" was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I 
sat alone for many hours. Desiring to divert my mind from my hopeless 
condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant, that was carrying a grain of corn larger 
than itself up a high wall. I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this 
object. The grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground ; but the insect had 
patience and persevered, and the seventieth time it reached the top. This 
sight gave me courage at the moment, and I never forgot the lesson." Here 
is a little poem, entitled, " What Wins," by Eben E. Redford, which illus- 
trates this : 

The world has full many a hero : 

Go read what those heroes have done, 
And you'll find that though oft they were baffled. 

They kept up their courage, and won. 
They never lost courage in failure. 

Giving up as the weak-hearted will, 
But said, " We will try and keep trying. 

And conquer all obstacles still." 

And this they have done the world over; 

Their tasks were accomplished at last 
By often-repeated endeavor. 

The young oak may bend to the blast, 
But it springs to its place when it passes. 

And grows to new strength every day. 
And in time it stands firm in the tempest 

Whose wrath whirls the tall pine away. 

Defeat makes a man more persistent 

If the right kind of courage is his; 
He determines to conquer, and does it. 

And this is what heroism is. 
Strive on with a patient endeavor : 

The steadfast of purpose will win. 
Defeat comes to-day, but to-morrow 

May usher the grand triumph in. 
(399) 



THIRTY-SECOND WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— I will praise the name of God with 
thanksgiving. — Psahii Ixix. 30. 



a song, and will magnify Him with 



For all that God in mercy sends, 

For health and children, home and friends, 

For comfort in the time of need, 

For every kindly word and deed, 



For happy thoughts and holy talk. 
For guidance in our daily walk, 
For every thing, give thanks! 

—Ellen Isabella Tupper. 



A child of God should be a visible Beatitude for joy and happiness, and 
a Doxology for gratitude and adoration. — C. H. Spurgeon. 



What ought we else to do, both in public and private, while either dig- 
ging, ploughing, or feeding, but sing hymns to God, and bless Him, and 



pour out our thanks toward Him. — Epictetiis. 



Thrice blessed will all our blessings be, 
When we can look through them to Thee ; 



When each glad heart its tribute pays 
Of love, and gratitude, and praise. 

— Selected. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

A Great Sinner and a Great Saviour.— Luke vii. 36-50. 



36 ^ And one of the Pharisees desired him 
that he would eat with him. And he went into 
the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. 

37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which 
was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at 
meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabas- 
ter box of ointment. 

38 And stood at his feet behind him vi'eeping, 
and began to wash his feet with tears, and did 
wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed 
his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 

39 Now when the Pharisee which had bid- 
den him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, 
This man, if he were a prophet, would have 
known who and what manner of woman this is 
that toucheth him ; for she is a sinner. 

40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Si- 
mon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And 
he saith, Master, say on. 

41 There was a certain creditor which had 
two debtors : the one owed five hundred pence, 
and the other fifty. 

42 And when they had nothing to pay, he 
frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, 
which of them will love him most ? 

43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that 

(400) 



he, to whom he forgave most. And he said 
unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 

44 And he turned to the woman, and said 
unto Simon, Seest thou this woman ? I entered 
into thine house, thou gavest me no water for 
my feet : but she hath washed my feet with 
tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her 
head. 

45 Thou gavest me no kiss : but this woman, 
since the time I came in, hath not ceased to 
kiss my feet. 

46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint : 
but this woman hath anointed my feet with 
ointment. 

47 Wherefore I say unto thee. Her sins, 
which are many, are forgiven ; for she loved 
much : but to whom little is forgiven, the same 
loveth little. 

48 And he said unto her. Thy sins are for- 
given. 

49 And they that sat at meat with him began 
to say within themselves. Who is this that for- 
giveth sins also ? 

50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath 
saved thee ; go in peace. 



SUNDAY. 



401 



See here the right character in the right place, seeking the right thing, in 
the right way. 

'"She is a sinner' — it is the only certificate of character that Jesus 
wanted. The only thing for which He came, the only work for which He 

hadquahfied Himself, had to do with sinners She knew that she was 

a sinner, and in that she knew more than Simon knew ; and knew all that 
she needed to know. A sinner at His feet. Oh, blessed hiding-place ! 

Having no hope but in Him, feeling that the torrents swept and 

surged about her, but that Hand held her and was lifting her up, and should 
set her feet upon the rock. She came unto Him and found the rest that 
she sought. The hold of the past was loose and broken ; its record was 
blotted out and forgotten. The touch of that gracious hand healed the 
broken heart. His words fell like the very music of heaven upon her soul. 
' Thy sins are forgiven thee.' And there came a new life, fresh, sweet, pure, 
beautiful, like the life of a little child."— M G. Pearse. 



Closet Promise. - 

James v. 1 1. 



-The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. — 



Perhaps for aught of good I am unfit, 
Most worthless and most useless all ; 

Yet make me but the meanest thing that lives 
Within thy Salem's wall. 



I shall be well content, my God, to be, 
Or do, or suffer aught that pleaselh Thee; 
O cast me not away. 

— Bonar. 



MONDAY. 

Willing Workers and Givers.— Ex. xxxv. 20-29. 



20 \ And all the congregation of the chil- 
dren of Israel departed from the presence of 
Moses. 

21 And they came, every one whose heart 
stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit 
made willing, and they brought the Lord's of- 
fering to the work of the tabernacle of the con- 
gregation, and for all his service, and for the 
holy garments. 

22 And they came, both men and women, as 
many as were willing hearted, and brought 
bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, 
all jewels of gold : and every man that offered, 
offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. 

23 And every man, with whom was found 
blue, and pui-ple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and 
goats' Iiair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' 
skins, brought them. 

24 Every one that did offer an offering of sil- 



ver and brass brought the Lord's offering : and 
every man, With whom was found shittim wood 
for any work of the service, brought it. 

25 And all the women that were wise hearted 
did spin with their hands, and brought that 
which they had spun, both of blue, and of pur- 
ple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. 

26 And all the women whose heart stirred 
them up in wisdom spun goats' hair. 

27 And the rulers l^rought onyx stones, and 
stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the 
breastplate ; 

28 And spice, and oil for the light, and for 
the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 

29 The children of Israel brought a willing 
offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, 
whose heart made them willing to bring for all 
manner of work, which the Lord had com- 
manded to be made by the hand of Moses. 



God wants all His people to give and to work for His cause. There is 
opportunity for men and women, for boys and girls, for rich and poor, for 



402 THIRTY-SECOND WEEK. 

every variety of talent. Whether one does the fine or coarse work, it is 
equally acceptable to the Lord. There were spinners of fine material, and 
spinners of goats' hair. 

The great beauty of this lesson lies in the spirit in which the offerings 
were made. It is not alone what we give, be it little or much, but it is essen- 
tially the spirit in which we give our gift or render our service which makes 
it acceptable to God and a blessing to our own souls. These offerings were 
made — 

1. Enthusiastically. " Their hearts stirred them up." It was more than a 
cold discharge of duty. They were warm and eager. 

2. Willingly. Four times it is said of these offerers in ten verses, that 
they were " willing " and " willing-hearted." There was no grudging here; 
no careful and nice calculating; but a willing, happy giving. 

3. Universally. They all gave something. No class or sex was excluded 
from the privilege. The rich gave their gold and precious stones, the 
poorer their silver and brass ; those still poorer gave their acacia-wood and 
spices, their rams'skins and their flax; while those who had nothing else to 
give, gave their fingers and offered to spin and forge into shape and form the 
gifts which others had brought. " It is accepted according to that a man 
hath, and not to that he hath not " (2 Cor. viii. 12). 

4. Abundantly. We learn from xxxvi. 5, that the people brought so will- 
ingly and so freely, that there was more than enough, and Moses had to 
issue a proclamation restraining them from giving any more. 

Such. giving is inspiring. Evidently the people came to that pass where 
they loved to contribute. And if people now were to give after that fashion, 
there is hardly a place in the land where the aid of a home missionary so- 
ciety would be needed. 

Closet Promise. — Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the 
lowly ; but the proud He knoweth afar off — Psalm cxxxviii. 6. 

" I was thinking of Bartholomew — his name appears four times in the 
Bible, but never first. He was in the right place after all. It is astonishing 
what a man or woman can do in the right place. Since my consecration to 
God He has been pleased to use me for His glory." 



TUESDAY. 

Christian Helpfulness.— Gal. vi. i-io. 

I Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, I spirit of meekness ; considering thyself, lest 
ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the | thou also be tempted. 



TUESDAY. 



403 



2 Bear ye one anotliei's burdens, and so ful- 
fil the law of Christ. 

3 For if a man think himself to be some- 
thing, when he is nothing, he deceiveth him- 
self. 

4 But let every man prove his own work, and 
then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, 
and not in another. 

5 For every man shall bear his own burden. 

6 Let him that is taught in the word commu- 
nicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 



7 Be not deceived : God is not mocked : for 
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap. 

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the 
flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to 
the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlast- 
ing. 

9 And let us not be weary in well doing : 
for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 

10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us 
do good unto all Jiien, especially unto them who 
are of the household of faith. 



" The man who has a true Christian spirit never takes delight in the faults 
of others. ' Does it not give you as exquisite pain to discover faults in those 
you love as to discover them in yourself? Do you not feel that you would 
give your own body and blood to save them from ruin ? So ought you to 
feel in respect to all your fellow-men. Their burdens should be your bur- 
dens, and their sorrows your sorrows." — H. W. Beecher. 

" The soul which sin has overtaken is like the bruised reed. It must be 
raised up gently that it may once more aspire heavenwards." — £. Bersier, 
D.D. 

" There is much discretion to be observed in reprehension : a word will 
do more with some than a blow with others. A Venice glass is not to be 
rubbed so hard as a brazen kettle. The tender reed is more easily bowed 
than the sturdy oak. Christ's warfare requires no carnal weapons. Dash- 
ing storms do but destroy the seed, while gentle showers nourish it. Char- 
iots too furiously driven may be overturned by their own violence. The 
word ' restore ' in this verse signifies to set in joint again, and to set ar dis- 
located bone requires the lady's hand : tenderness as well as skill. Repre- 
hension is not an act of butchery, but of surgery. Take heed of blunting 
the instrument by putting too keen an edge upon it." — Archbishop Seeker. 

Closet Promise. — Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness 
of thy youth, the love of thine espousals. — Jer. ii. 2. 



My Lord, dost Thou indeed remember me. 

Just me, the least and last ? 
With all the names of Thy redeemed, 
And all Thy angels, has it seemed 



As though my name might perhaps be over- 
passed ; 
Yet here I find Thy word of tenderest grace, 
True for this moment, perfect for my case — 
" Thus saith Jehovah, I remember thee ! " 

— Frances Ridley Havergal. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Trial of Abraham's Faith. — Gen. xxii. i-i8. 

1 And it came to pass after these things, that I 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only 
God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into 
Abraham : and he said, Behold, here lam. \ the land of Moriah ; and offer him there for 



404 



THIRTY-SECOND WEEK. 



a burnt offering upon one of the mountains 
which I will tell thee of. 

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morn- 
ing, and saddled his ass, and took two of his 
young men with him, and Isaac his son, and 
clave the wood for the Imrnt offering, and rose 
up, and went unto the place of which God had 
told him. 

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted 
up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, 
Abide ye here with the ass ; and I and the lad 
will go yonder and worship, and come again to 
you. 

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt 
offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son ; and he 
took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they 
went both of them together. 

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, 
and said, My father : and he said, Here am I, 
my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the 
wood : but where is the lamb for a burnt offer- 
ing? 

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will pro- 
vide himself a lamb for a burnt offering : so 
they went both of them together. 

9 And they came to the place which God 
had told him of; and Abraham built an altar 
there, and laid the wood in order, and bound 
Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon 
the wood. 



10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, 
and took the knife to slay his son. 

11 And the Angel of the Lord called unto 
him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abra- 
ham : and he said, Here am I. 

12 And he said. Lay not thine hand upon 
the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him : 
for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing 
thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son 
from me. 

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and 
looked, and behold behind hitn a ram caught 
in a thicket by his horns : and Abraham went 
and took the ram, and offered him up for a 
burnt offering in the stead of his son. 

14 And Abraham called the name of that 
place Jehovah-jireh : as it is said to this day, in 
the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. 

15 \ And the Angel of the Lord called unto 
Abraham out of heaven the second time. 

16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith 
the Lord, for because thou hast done this 
thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine 
only son, 

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and 
in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the 
stars of the heaven, 'and as the sand which is 
upon the sea shore ; and thy seed shall possess 
the gate of his enemies : 

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of 
the earth be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed 
my voice. 



The Book of Genesis says, " God did tempt Abraham." The Revised 
Version properly replaces " tempt " by " prove." The former word conveys 
the idea of appealing to the worst part of a man, with the wish that he may 
yield and do the wrong. The latter means an appeal to the better part of 
a man, with the desire that he should stand. God tries men ; Satan tempts 
them. God sits as a refiner of silver, to purify it; Satan as a base coiner. 
to alloy it. 

There come times in every life when men must undergo a crucial test. A 
man can have but one trial in his lifetime ; one great sorrow, beside which 
all other griefs dwindle into insignificance. The crucial test can only take 
place in reference to that which we love and value most. Do we so hold 
that which is dearest to us upon earth that we could surrender it at the Di- 
vine bidding? 

" God is to this man a friend to be tru.sted, even though He slay ; to be 
loved better than an only son ; to be obeyed where reason refuses its light 
to justify the command, and nature with all her voices can only exclaim 
against it. It is the perfection of a man's friendship with God to be thus 
loyal."— 7. 0. Dykes, D. D. 



WEDNESDAY. 



405 



Closet Promise. — Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial 
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you : but 
rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings. — I Pet. iv. 12, 13. 

Receive every inward and outward trouble, every disappointment, pain, 
uneasiness, temptation, darkness, and desolation, with both thy hands, as a 
true opportunity and blessed occasion of dying to self, and entering into a 
fuller fellowship with thy self-denying, suffering Saviour. Look at no in- 
ward or outward trouble in any other view ; reject every other thought 
about it; and then every kind of trial and distress will become the blessed 
day of thy prosperity. That state is best, which exerciseth the highest faitli 
in, and fullest resignation to God. — PV7n. Lata. 

THURSDAY. 

A Hymn of Creation. — Psalm civ. 



1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my 
God, thou art very great ; thou art clothed with 
honour and majesty : 

2 Who coverest thyself virith light as with a 
garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a 
curtain : 

3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in 
the waters : who maketh the clouds his chariot : 
who walketh upon the wings of the wind : 

4 Wlio maketh his angels spirits ; his minis- 
ters a flaming fire : 

5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that 
it should not be removed for ever. 

6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a 
garment : the waters stood above the mountains. 

7 At Ihy rebuke they fled ; at the voice of thy 
thunder they hasted away. 

8 They go up by the mountains; they go 
down by the valleys unto the place which thou 
hast founded for them. 

9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not 
pass over ; that they turn not again lo cov^- the 
earth. 

ID He sendeth the springs into the valleys, 
which run among the hills. 

11 They give drink to every beast of the field : 
the wild asses quench their thirst. 

12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven 
have their habitation, which sing among the 
branches. 

13 He watereth the hills from his chambers : 
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. 

14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, 
and herb for the service of man : thnt he may 
bring forth food out of the earth ; 

15 And wine //;<?/ maketh glad the heart of 
man, atid oil to make his face to shine, and 
bread which strengtheneth man's heart. 



16 The trees of the Lord are full of sap ; 
the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; 

17 Where the birds make their nests : as for 
the stork, the fir trees are her house. 

1 8 The high hills are a refuge for the wild 
goats ; rtwd'the rocks for the conies. 

19 He appointed the moon for seasons : the 
sun knoweth his going down. 

20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night : 
wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep 
forth. 

j 21 The young lions roar after their prey, and 
I seek their meat from God. 

j 22 The sun ariseth, they gather themselves 
j together, and lay them down in their dens. 
! 23 Man goeth forth unto his work and to his 
1 labour until the evening. 

j 24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in 
1 wisdom hast thou made them all : the earth is 
full of thy riches. 

25 So «this great and wide sea, wherein are 
j things creeping innumerable, both small and 

great beasts. 

26 There go the ships : there is that levia- 
than, whom thou hast made to play therein. 

27 These wait all upon thee ; that thou may- 
est give them their meat in due season. 

28 That thou givest them they gather : thou 
openest thine hand, they are filled with good, 

29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled : 
j thou takest away their breath, they die and re- 
turn to their dust. 

30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are cre- 
ated : and thou renewe<t the face of the earth. 

j 31 The glory of the Lord shall endure for 
ever : the Lord shall rejoice in his works. 
32 He loo1<eth on the earth.and it trembleth: 
I he toucheth the hills, and they smoke. 



406 THIRTY-SECOND WEEK. 



2^ I will sing unto the Lord as long as I 
live : I will sing praise to my God while I have 
my being. 

34 My meditation of him shall be sweet : I 
will be glad in the Lord. 



35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the 
earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless 
thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the 
Lord. 



" This psalm is an inspired ' Oratorio of Creation.' " — Christopher Words- 
zuortli. 

" It is a poet's version of Genesis. Nor is it alone the present condition 
of the eartli which is here the subject of song ; but a hint is given of those 
liob'er times when we shall see 'anew earth wherein dwelleth righteousness,' 
out of which the sinner shall be consumed (verse 35). The spirit of ardent 
praise to God runs through the whole, and with it a distinct realization of 
the divine Being as a personal existence, loved and trusted as well as 
adored." — C.H. Spurgeon. 

The whole lies before us as a panorama of the universe viewed by the eye 
of devotion. " Each created, redeemed, regenerated soul is bound to praise 
the Lord, the Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier ; for that God the Son, who in 
the beginning made the worlds, and whose grace is ever carrying on His 
work to its perfect end by the operation of the Holy Ghost, has been re- 
vealed before us in His exceeding glory. He, as the eternal High-Priest, 
hath put on the Urim and Thummim of majesty and honor, and hath 
clothed Himself with light, as a priest clothes hiinself with his holy vest- 
ments : His brightness on the mount of transfiguration was but a passing 
glimpse of what He is now, ever hath been, and ever shall be. He is the 
true Light, therefore His angels are the angels of light. His children the chil- 
dren of light. His doctrine the doctrine of light. The universe is His taber- 
nacle ; the heavens visible and invisible are the curtains which shroud His 
holy place. He hath laid the beams and foundations of His holy of holies 
very high, even above the waters which are above the firmament. The 
clouds and the winds of the lower heavens are His chariot, upon which He 
stood when He ascended from Olivet, upon which He will sit when He 
cometh again." — Plain Commentary. 

Closet Promise. — He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their 
wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their 
names. — Psalm cxlvii. 3, 4. 

I looked up to the heavens once more, and the quietness of the stars 
seemed to reproach me. " We are safe up here," they seemed to say ; "we 
shine, fearless and confident, for the God who gave the primrose its rough 
leaves to hide it from the blast of uneven spring, hangs us in the awful hol- 
lows of space. We cannot fall out of His safety. Lift up your eyes on high, 




THE LAST SUPPER. 
This do in remembrance of Me. — Luke xxii. 19. 
407 



THURSDAY, 



4U9 



and behold ! Who hath created these things — that bringeth out their host 
by number ? He calleth them all by names. By the greatness of His 
might, for that He is strong in power, not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O 
Jacob! and speakest, O Israel! my way is hid from the Lord, and my judg- 
ment is passed over from my God ? " — G. MacDoiiald. , 



FRIDAY. 

The Justice of God's Ways.— Ezek. 



i. 7-16. 



7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a 
watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore 
thou shall hear the word at my mouth, and warn 
them from me. 

8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked 
man, thou shah surely die ; if thou dost not 
speak to warn the wicked from his way, that 
wicked mail shall die in his iniquity ; but his 
blood will I require at thine hand. 

9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of 
his way to turn from it ; if he do not turn from 
his way, he shall die in his iniquity ; but thou 
hast delivered thy soul. 

10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto 
the house of Israel ; Thus ye speak, saying, If 
our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and 
we pine away in them, how should we then 
live ? 

11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord 
God, I have no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked ; but that the wicked turn from his way 
and live : turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; 
for why will ye die, O house of Israel ? 

12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the 



children of thy people. The righteousness of the 
righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his 
transgression : as for the wickedness of the 
wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that 
he turneth from his wickedness ; neither shall 
the righteous be able to live for his righteousness 
in the day that he sinneth. 

13 When I shall say to the righteous, that\\^ 
shall surely live ; if he trust to his own right- 
eousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteous- 
nesses shall not be remembered ; but for his 
iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die 
for it. 

14 Again, when I say unto the wicked. Thou 
shalt surely die ; if he turn from his sin, and do 
that which is lawful and right ; 

15 7/" the wicked restore the pledge, give 
ngain that he had robbed, walk in the statutes 
of life, without committing iniquity ; he shall 
surely live, he shall not die. 

16 None of his sins that he hath committed 
shall be mentioned unto him ; he hath done 
that which is lawful and right ; he shall surely 
live. 



" If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in 
them, how should we then live ? " If this burden is upon us, we cannot 
walk in newness of life, we cannot run in the way of His commandments, 
we cannot arise and shine. But it is written, " The Lord hath laid on Him 
the iniquity of us all." On Jesus it has been laid, on Him who alone could 
bear the intolerable burden ; therefore it is not upon His justified ones who 
accept Him as their sinbearer. 

" This burden is never divided. He took it all, every item, every detail 
of it. The scapegoat bore ' upon Him all their iniquities.' Think of every 
separate sin, each that has weighed down our conscience, every separate 
transgression of our most careless moments, added to the unknown weight 
of all the unknown or forgotten sins of our whole life, and all this laid on 
Jesus instead of upon us ! The sins of a day are often a burden indeed, but 
we are told in another type, 'I have laid upon Thee \}i\& years of their in- 
iquity.' Think of the years of our iniquity being upon Jesus. Multiply 



410 



THIRTY-SECOND WEEK. 



this by the unknown but equally intolerable sin-burdens of all His people, 
and remember that the ' Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all,' and 
then think what the strength of His enduring love must be which thus bare 
' the sins of many.' " — F. R. Havergal. 



Closet Promise.- 

hands. — Isa. xlix. i6. 



■Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My 



' Sweet thought, my God, that on the palms 

Of Thy most holy hands 
Are graven all Thy people's names, 

Though countless as the sands. 

' Not one too mean to have his place 
Amid that record bless'd ; 



And if but there our names are found, 
We'll share the heavenly rest. 

' How can we then yield to distrust. 

Or think we are forgot. 
While ever thus the care of one 

Who loves and changes not ? " 



SATURDAY. 

The Heavenly Song.— Rev. v. 



1 And I saw in the right hand of him that 
sat on the throne a book written within and on 
the back side, sealed with seven seals. 

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with 
a loud voice. Who is worthy to open the book, 
and to loose the seals thereof? 

3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, nei- 
ther under the earth, was able to open the book, 
neither to look thereon. 

4 And I wept much, because no man was 
found worthy to open and to read the book, nei- 
ther to look thereon. 

5 And one of the elders saith unto me. Weep 
not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the 
root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, 
and to loose the seven seals thereof. 

6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the 
throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst 
of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, 
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are 
the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the 
earth. 

7 And he came and took the book out of the 
right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 

8 And when he had taken the book, the four 
beasts and four ««</ twenty elders fell down be- 
fore the Lamb, having every one of them harps, 



and golden vials full of odours, which are the 
prayers of saints. 

9 And they sung a new song, saying. Thou 
art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals 
thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed 
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, 
and tongue, and people, and nation ; 

10 And hast made us unto our God kings 
and priests : and we shall reign on the earth. 

11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of 
many angels round about the throne, and the 
beasts, and the elders : and the number of them 
was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thou- 
sands of thousands ; 

12 Saying with a loud voice. Worthy is the 
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and 
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, 
and glory, and blessing. 

13 And every creature which is in heaven, 
and on the earth, and under the earth, and such 
as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard 
I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and 
power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 

14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And 
the four and twenty elders fell down and wor- 
shipped him that liveth for ever and ever. 



"Thou art worthy." That was the burden of the new song — worthy "to 
take the book " — worthy " to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." The song that had been of 
old was of Him that sitteth upon the throne, " Thou art worthy to receive 
glory, and honpr, and power." The new song recognized the equal right 
of the Son to receive adoration with the Father. How worthy to reign ! 



SATURDAY. 



411 



how worthy in His holiness ! And if it be permitted us to stand at last by 
His grace and power, made like Him, who of us will not say, " Thou art 
worthy to reign ? " 

" Oh, poor bewildered soul, do not be afraid. There is no rock in the 
harbor where you are going. Love on, love more ; and do not fear that in 
the last day you will find that you have put the crown on the wrong head. 
Crown the Lord Jesus Christ — crown Him Lord of all — for you are safe in 
worshipping Him." — H. W. Beecher. 

" God's lion was a lamb." — Moody. He was a " lion to conquer Satan — a 
lamb to satisfy justice." The key to God's providence is the death of Christ. 
It opens the book that He has given us here — and also unlooses the seals 
of the book there. " God so loved the world " is the main theme of both 
books. 



Closet Promise. — A little while and ye shall not see Me; because I go 
to My father. — John xvi. i6. 



So I am watching quietly 

Every day ; 
Whenever the sun shines brightly, 

I rise and say, 
' Surely it is the shining of His Face,' 
And look to the gates of His high place 

Beyond the sea ; 
For I know He is coming shortly 

To summon me ; 



And when a shadow falls across the window 

of my room 
Where I »m working my appointed task, 
I lift my head to watch the door, and ask 

If He is come? 
And the Angel answers sweetly 

In my Home, 
' Only a few more shadows. 

And He will come ! ' " 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



Breakfast Motto. — Ask, and it shall be given you. — Luke xi. 9. 
Weekly Proverb. — All is not gold that glitters. — English. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SEVEN CUPS. 

Sunday. — Of Trembling. — Zech. xii. 2 ; Isa. li. 17-23. 
Monday. — Of Salvation. — Psalm cxvi. 1-19. 
Tuesday. — Of Consolation. — Jer. xvi. 1-9. 
Wednesday. — Of Suffering. — Matt. xx. 20-23. 
Thursday. — Of Blessing. — i Cor. x. 13-33. 
Friday. — Of the Lord. — Psalm xvi. l-ll. 
Saturday. — Of Wrath. — Rev. xvi. 17-21. 

DID GOD ROCK HER TO SLEEP.? 



" Mamma, why does not baby wake ? 

And why put her away 
In that dark room and all alone, 

So long a time to-day ? " 



Thus spake a little four-year old ; 

And then his mother said, 
" Your baby-sister will no more 

Rise from her cradle bed : 



412 



THIRTY-SECON® WEEK. 



For God has taken her away 

To live with Him above, 
Where Jesus and the angels are 

In His own home of love." 

She led him to the cradle, where 

His infant sister lay. 
So beautiful, you scarce could think 

'Twas only lifeless clay. 
A moment gazed the child ; then said, 

" O mamma, do not weep; 
I'm sure she'll wake up very soon- 

Did God rock her to sleep ? " 



Oh, sweet the thought ! And by a child 

Her inmost heart was stirred, 
Silence a moment sealed her lips, 

And then her voice was heard: 
" Yes, darling, yes : 'tis even so ; 

Your words have brought to mind 
The waking that shall be for her. 

And God's own words so kind — 
' He giveth His beloved sleep ! ' — 

I'll rest my heart in this; 
'Tis true, I knew it all before. 

But not with such a bliss." 

—Mary P. Hale. 



A cheerful countenance. — Prov. xv. 13. 

" Charlie, what is it that makes you so sweet ? " said a loving mother, one 
day, to her little boy, as she pressed him to her bosom. " I dess, when 
God made me out of dust, He put a little thugar in," said Charlie. As a 
little girl was eating her dinner, the golden rays of the sun fell upon her 
spoon. She put the spoon to her mouth, exclaiming, " O ma, I have swal- 
lowed a whole spoonful of sunshine." I tell you, boys and girls, nothing 
makes little children so attractive as a " cheerful countenance." They may 
have beautiful hair, and good clothes, and handsome faces, but if they look 
cross and sour, people don't like them ; but their faces may not be very 
pretty, and they may have poor clothes, still if they have sunshine in their 
faces everybody likes them. I will tell you when it is hard to be cheerful — 
when things disappoint you. A little boy went to his mother, one morning, 
with a broken arrow, and begged her to mend it. It was a very handsome 
arrow, and was the pride of his heart; so she did not wonder to see his lip 
quivering, and the tears come into his eyes. " I'll try to fix it, darling," 
she said ; " but I'm afraid I can't do it." He watched her anxiously for a few 
moments, and then said cheerfully, " Never mind, mamma : if you can't fix 
it, /'// be Just as happy without it." How lovely such a boy! 



THE FIRST SUNBEAM. 

This little fellow has suddenly stopped in his play. The beautiful sun- 
shine, pouring in through the window, has won his dark eye. 

" The sunbeam streamed across his way, 
Straight as the path to endless day; 

A cord of golden light 
Stretched from the window to the floor, 
With twinkling motes bespangled o'er, 

Like a comet's train at night. 

" His little hand was then applied, 
And many a time the feat was tried, 

To grasp the sparkling train; 
His dumpy fist would ope and close. 
Translucent as the ruby rose ; 

But each attempt was vain." 

Like this little boy, if we attempt to catch the sunshine, we shall fail. 
But we can be full of sunshine ourselves. As a little girl was eating her 
dinner, the golden rays of the sun fell upon her spoon. She put the spoon 
to her mouth, exclaiming, " O ma, I have swallowed a whole spoonful of 
sunshine ! " If we have Christ in us, we shall not only be full of sunshine, 
but we shall have the Sun of Righteousness Himself, and that is better still. 

(415) 



THIRTY-THIRD ^A^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of 
cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his re- 
ward. — Matt. X. 42. 



Teach us, O Lord, to keep in view 
Thy pattern and Thy steps pursue ; 



Let alms bestowed, let kindness done. 
Be witnessed by each rolling sun. 

— Selected. 



He doeth much who loveth much; he also doeth much who doeth well. 
— Thomas a' Kevipis. 

Every one must have felt that a cheerful friend is like a sunny day, which 
sheds its brightness on all around ; and most of us can, as we choose, make 
of this world either a palace or a prison. — Sir yolin Ltibbock. 

The Lord never meant that we should make of our immediate and daily 
work prison walls to shut ourselves in, so as to take no part in the vast in- 
terests of humanity. We all belong to the whole of God's world, and 
nothing which concerns it ought to find us indifferent. It is not meant that 
we should live to ourselves, but we are all called on to live for every truth, 
every human interest, every human need, as the Lord sends them to us or 
sends us to them. — James Freeman Clarke. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Longing for God.— Psalm Ixiii. 



1 O God, thou art my God ; early will I seek 
thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh long- 
eth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no 
water is ; 

2 To see thy power and ihy glory, so as I 
have seen thee in the sanctuary. 

3 Because thy lovingkindness is belter than 
life, my lips shall praise thee. 

4 Thus will I bless thee while I live : I will 
lift up my hands in thy name. 

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow 
and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee 
with joyful lips : 



6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and 
meditate on thee in the night watches. 

7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore 
in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 

8 My soul followeth hard after thee : thy 
right hand upholdeth me. 

9 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, 
shall go into the lower parts of the earth. 

10 They shall fall by the sword : they shall 
be a portion for foxes. 

11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every 
one that svveareth by him shall glory : but the 
mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. 



This Psalm was probably written while David, fleeing from Absalom, 
lingered in the wilderness (2 Sam. xv. 23-28) awaiting tidings from Jerusa- 
lem. David did not leave off singing because he was in the wilderness. 

•' There was no desert in his heart, though there was a desert around him. 
(416) 



SUNDAY. 417 

We, too, may expect to be cast into rough places ere we go hence. In such 
seasons may the Eternal Comforter abide with us, and cause us to bless the 
Lord at all times, making even the solitary place to become a temple for 
Jehovah." — C. H. Spurgcon. 

This is unquestionably one of the most beautiful and touching Psalms in 
the whole Psalter. St. Chrysostom testifies: "That it was decreed and 
ordained by the primitive Fathers that no day should pass without the pub- 
lic singing of this Psalm." It is peculiarly suitable for the bed of sickness, 
or in any constrained absence from public worship. 

" This Psalm is aptly described by Clauss as 'A precious confession of a 
soul thirsting after God and His grace, and finding itself quickened through 
inward communion with Him, and which knows how to commit its outward 
lot also into His hand.' Its lesson is, that the consciousness of communion 
with God in trouble is the sure pledge of deliverance. T-his is the peculiar 
fountain of consolation which is opened up to the sufferer in the Psalm. 
The Berleb Bible describes it as a Psalm ' which proceeds from a spirit 
really in earnest. It was the favorite Psalm of M. Schade, the famous 
preacher in Berlin, which he daily prayed with such earnestness and appro- 
priation to himself that it was impos.sible to hear it without emotion.' " — E. 
W. Hengstenberg. 

Closet Promise. — Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh right- 
eousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways. — Isa. Ixiv. 5. 

And so, this very night, as you put away the profitless musings and 
memories, and remember Him upon your bed, He will keep His word and 
meet you. The darkness shall be verily the shadow of His wing, for your 
feeble yet Spirit-given remembrance shall be met by His real and actual 
presence, for "hath He said, and shall He not do it?" Let us pray that 
this night " the desire of our soul " may be " to Thy name, and to the 
remembrance of Thee." 

MONDAY. 

God's Use of Weakness. — i Cor. i. 18-31. 



18 For the preaching of the cross is to them 
that perish, foolishness ; but unto us which are 
snved, it is the power of God. 

19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom 
of the wise, and will bring to nothing the un- 
derstanding of the prudent. 

20 Where is the wise ? where is the scribe ? 
where is the disputer of this world? hath not 
God made foolish the wisdom of this world ? 



21 For after that in the wisdom of God the 
world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God 
by the foolishness of preaching to save them 
that believe. 

22 For the Jews require a sign, and the 
Greeks seek after wisdom : 

23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the 
Jews .1 stumblinglilock, and unto the Greeks 
foolishncbs; 



418 



THIRTY-THIRD WEEK. 



24 But unto them which are called, both 
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and 
the wisdom of God. 

25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser 
than men ; and the weakness of God is stronger 
than men. 

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that 
not many wise men after the flesh, not many 
mighty, not many noble, are called : 

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of 
the world to confound the wise ; and God hath 



chosen the weak things of the world to confound 
the things which are mighty ; 

28 And base things of the world, and things 
which are despised, hath God chosen, yea^ and 
things which are not, to bring to nought things 
that are : 

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of 
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, 
and sanctification, and redemption : 

31 That, according as it is written, He that 
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 



There are five things mentioned in verses 27 and 28, which God has 
specially chosen : the foolish, weak, base, despised, and things which are 
not. 

" What is that in thine hand? " said God to Moses. It was a rod, prob- 
ably a rude shepherd's crook. But with that Moses wrought his signs. So, 
all through the Bible, we find God using the insignificant. Joshua and the 
rams' horns ; David and the sling ; Samson and the jawbone of an ass ; 
Gideon and the broken pitchers ; Shamgar and the ox-goad ; Dorcas and 
her needle ; the widow and her mites ; the woman who was a sinner and her 
tears — all show this truth. 

" The loftiness of this world must be brought low, if it would enter the 
kingdom of God. The heights of earthly promotion and glory lift us no whit 
nearer heaven. It is easier to step there from the lowly vale of humiliation 
and sorrow." — Gossner. 

" To God belongs all the glory. If, then, God is tp display His power in 
thee and make something out of thee, thou must consent to become as 
nothing." — C. F. Kling. 

" We have too much stuck-iip-a-tivenessT — Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking 
flax shall He not quench. — Isa. xlii. 3. 

We never have more than we can bear. The present hour we are always 
able to endure. As our day, so is our strength. If the trials of many years 
were gathered into one, they would overwhelm us; therefore, in pity to our 
little strength, He sends first one, then another, then removes both, and lays 
on a third, heavier, perhaps, than either; but all is so wisely measured to 
our strength that the bruised reed is never broken. We do not enough 
look at our trials in this continuous and successive view. Each one is sent 
to teach us something, and altogether they have a lesson which is beyond 
the power of any to teach alone. — H. E. Manning. 



TUESDAY. 



419 



TUESDAY. 

The Saviour's Kingdom. — Micah iv 



1-7- 



1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, 
that the mountain of the house of the Lord 
shall be established in the top of the mountains, 
and it shall be exalted above the hills ; and 
people shall flow unto it. 

2 And many nations shall come, and say, 
Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the 
Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; 
and he will tench us of his ways, and we will 
walk in his paths : for the law shall go forth of 
Zfon, and the word of the Lord from Jeru- 
salem. 

3 And he shall judge among many people, 
and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they 
shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and 
their spears into pruninghooks : nation shall 



not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall 
they learn war any more. 

4 But they shall sit every man under his vine 
and under his fig tree ; and none .shall make 
them afraid : for the mouth of the Lord of 
hosts hath spoken it. 

5 For all people will walk every one in the 
name of his god, and we will walk in the name 
of the Lord our God for ever and ever. 

6 In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble 
her that haltetli, and I will gather her that is 
driven out, and her that I have afflicted ; 

7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, 
and her that was cast far off a strong nation : 
and the Lord shall reign over them in mount 
Zion from^enceforth, even for ever. 



In this chapter is set forth the future supremacy of the Gospel. Though 
insignificant in its beginnings, the reh'gion of Jesus Christ is to spread over 
the whole earth. A mighty tide is setting in to the Gospel. " The flood 
once covered the highest mountains to destroy life," says Dr. Pusey, " but 
this flood shall pour in for the saving of life." That vision of the future 
ought to inspire the tongue of every missionary, now, and of every one who 
is faithfully trying to bring about the reign of Christ upon earth. 

The final results of a religion of love will be a reign of univensal peace. 
"As far as in it lies, the Gospel is a Gospel of peace, and makes peace. 
Christians, as far as they obey Christ, are at peace, both in themselves and 
with one another. And this is what is here prophesied. The peace follows 
from His rule. Where He judges and rebukes, there even the mighty beat 
their sivords into plo7/ghs hares." — E. B. Ptisey, D. D. 

" They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree ; and 
none shall make them afraid " (verse 4). What a picture of domestic peace, 
each family gathered in harmony and rest under the protection of God, 
each content with what they have, neither coveting another's, nor disturbed 
in their own ! Wine is explained in Holy Scripture to be an emblem of 
gladness, and the fig of sweetness. " For exceeding sweet is the word of 
the Saviour, and it knoweth how to gladden man's heart ; sweet also and 
full of joy is the hope of the future, wherewith we are enriched in Chri.st." 

Closet Promise. — He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of 
thy cry ; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee. — Isa. xxx. 19. 



420 



THIRTYTHIRD WEEK. 



Lord, my God ! thou knowest my heart; 
If sin is there, bid it depart 

And set me free. 

1 place my life within Thy hand, 
And all I have at Thy command 

I give to Thee. 

O Lord, my strength and hiding-place. 
Give me a glimpse of Thy dear face ; 

My heart, keep still. 
Till peace shall like a river flow, 
Till soul and body learn to know 

And do Thy will. 



O Lord, Thy promises are sure, 
Thy truth and love shall both endure 

All testings given. 
The earnest comes, my hand is laid 
In Thine, dear Lord ; the debt is paid ; 

Lead on to heaven. 

Lord ! my heart, once weak and sad, 
Now joyful is, so strong and glad 

Thou art my Friend. 

1 will not fear, but firm and brave 
I'll trust in Thee, mighty to save. 

Even to the end. 

— Marian A. Murphy. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Miracle of the Loaves.— Mark vi. 30-44. 



30 \ And the apostles gathered themselves 
together unto Jesus, and told him all things, 
both what they had done, and what they had 
taught. 

31 And he said unto them. Come ye your- 
selves apart into a desert place, and rest a while : 
for there were many coming and going, and 
they had no leisui'e so much as to eat. 

32 And they departed into a desert' place by 
ship privately. 

33 And the people saw them departing, and 
many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all 
cities, and outwent them, and came together 
unto him. 

34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much 
people, and was moved with compassion toward 
them, because they were as sheep not having a 
shepherd : and he began to teach them many 
things. 

35 And when the day was now far spent, his 
disciples came unto him, and said. This is a 
desert place, and now the time is far passed : 

36 Send them away, that they may go into 
the country round about, and into the villages. 



and buy themselves bread : for they have noth- 
ing to eat. 

37 He answered and said unto them, Give 
ye them to eat. And they say unto him. Shall 
we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of 
bread, and give them to eat ? 

38 He saith unto them. How many loaves 
have ye ? go and .see. And when they knew, 
they say, Five, and two fishes. 

39 And he commanded them to make all sit 
down by companies upon the green grass. 

40 And ihey sat down in ranks, by hundreds, 
and by fifties. 

41 And when he had taken the five loaves 
and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and 
blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave the7n to 
his disciples to set before them ; and the two 
fishes divided he among them all. 

42 And they did all eat, and were filled. 

43 And they took up twelve baskets full of 
the fragments, and of the fi.shes. 

44 And they that did eat of the loaves were 
about five thousand men. 



To-day Christ feeds the famishing world by means of His Church. Chris- 
tian people are henceforth Christ's instruments. 

The bread given for the famishing is multiplied for the future of the dis- 
tributors. 

" To impart to others is to gain for oneself If you would learn, teach. If 
you would have your own spiritual life strengthened and deepened, remember 
that not by solitary meditation or raptures of silent communion alone can 
that be accomplished, but by these and by honest, manful work for God in 
the world." — A. Maclaren, D. D. 

This tniracle is a type of the whole work of the church in this starving 
world. " The multitudes famish. Tell Christ of their wants. Count your 



WEDNESDAY. 



421 



own small resources till you have completely learned your poverty; then 
take them to Jesus. He will accept them, and in His hands they will be- 
come mighty, being transfigured from human thoughts and forces into 
divine words, spiritual powers. On that bread which He gives, do you 

yourself live. Then carry it boldly to all the hungry Nor shall the 

bread fail, nor the word become weak, till all the world has tasted of its 
sweetness, and been refreshed by its potent life." — A. Maclaren, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of 
grace, that ue may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. — 
Heb. iv. i6. 



In every pang that rends the heart, 
The Man of Sorrows had a part ; 
He sympathizes with our grief, 
And the sufferer ends relief. 



" With boldness, therefore, at the throne, 
Let us make all our sorrows known, 
And ask the aids of heavenly power 
To hell us in the evil hour." 



THURSDAY. 

The Psalm of Pious Resolutions. — Psalm ci. 



1 I will . 'ng of mercy and judgment : unto 
thee, O Lord, will I sing. 

2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect 
way. O when wilt thou come unto me ? I 
will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 

3 I will set no wicked thing before mine 
eyes : I hate the work of them that turn aside ; 
it shall not cleave to me. 

4 A froward heart shall depart from me : I 
will not know a wicked person. 

5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, 



him will I cut off : him that hath a high look and 
a proud heart will not I suffer. 

6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the 
land, that they may dwell with me : he that 
walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. 

7 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell 
within my house : he that telleth lies shall not 
tarry in my sight. 

8 I will early destroy all the wicked of the 
land ; that I may cut off all wicked doers from 
the city of the Lord. 



" This Psalm has been appropriately called ' The Householder's Psalm ; ' 
and assuredly if every master of a family would regulate his household by 
these rules of the conscientious psalmist, there would be a far greater 
amount, not merely of domestic happiness and comfort, but of fulfilment of 
the serious and responsible duties which devolve on the respective members 
of the household. David in some measure may be supposed to speak of 
the regulation of a royal court and household ; and of course with such we 
in our humbler sphere can have but little in common ; yet though there may 
not be the same duties and the same requirements, yet the .same principles 
should actuate all alike, and the same virtues that adorn the lowlier station 
may shed a radiance even on the highest." — Barton Boiichicr. 

" Mr. Fox reports that Bishop Ridley often read and expounded this 
psalm to his household, hiring them with money to get it by heart." — 
Thomas Lye. 

"This is the psalm which the old expositors used to designate ' The Mir- 
24 



422 



THIRTY-THIRD WEEK. 



ror for Magistrates;' and an excellent mirror it is. It would mightily ac- 
celerate the coming of the time when every nation shall be Christ's posses- 
sion, and every capital a ' City of the Lord,' if all magistrates could be 
persuaded to dress themselves by it every time they go forth to perform the 
functions of their godlike office." — William Bhinie. 

Closet Promise.— I the Lord do keep it ; I will water it every moment ; 
lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. — Isa. xxvii. 3. 



Moment by moment. Lord, 

I come to Thee ; 
Yea, every moment, Lord 

My helper be. 

I can do nothing, Saviour, 
Without Thee ; 



I can do all things, if 
Thou strengthen me. 

Thou bidst me come, and this 

Is my sure plea. 
According to Thy word. 

Lord, quicken me. 

—Selected. 



FRIDAY. 

Spiritual Gifts. — i Cor. xii. 



1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I 
would not have you ignorant. 

2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried 
away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were 
led. 

3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that 
no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth 
Jesus accursed : and that no man can say that 
Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the 
same Spirit. 

5 And there are differences of administra- 
tions, but the same Lord. 

6 And there are diversities of operations, but 
it is the same God which worketh all in all. 

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given 
to every man to profit withal. 

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word 
of wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge 
by the same Spirit ; 

9 To another faith by the same Spirit ; to 
another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; 

10 To another the working of miracles ; to 
another prophecy ; to another discerning of 
spirits ; to another divers kinds of tongues ; to 
another the interpretation of tongues : 

1 1 But all these worketh that one and the 
selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally 
as he will. 

12 For as the body is one, and hath many 
members, and all the members of that one body, 
being many, are one body : so also is Christ. 

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into 
one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, 



whether we be bond or free ; and have been all 
made to drink into one Spirit. 

14 For the body is not one member, but 
many. 

15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the 
hand, I am not of the body ; is it therefore not 
of the body ? 

16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not 
the eye, I am not of the body ; is it therefore 
not of the body ? 

17 If the whole body were an eye, where 
7ffy^ the hearing ? If the whole were hearing, 
where tvere the smelling ? 

18 But now hath God set the members every 
one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 

19 And if they were all one member, where 
rvere the body ? 

20 But now are they many members, yet but 
one body. 

21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I 
have no need of thee : nor again the head to the 
feet, I have no need of you. 

22 Nay, much more those members of the 
body, which seem to be more feeble, are 
necessary. 

23 And those jnembers of the body, which we 
think to be less honourable, upon these we be- 
stow more abundant honour ; and our uncomely 
parts have more abundant comeliness. 

24 For our comely parts have no need : but 
God hath tempered the body together, having 
given more abundant honour to that/ar/ which 
lacked : 

25 That there should be no schism in the 



423 



body ; but that the members should have the 
same care one for another. 

26 And whether one member suffer, all the 
members suffer with it ; or one member be hon- 
oured, all the members rejoice wiih it. 

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and mem- 
bers in p.irticular. 

28 And God hath set some in the church, 
first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly 



teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of heal- 
ings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 

29 Ard all apostles? are all propliets? are 
all teachers? are all workers of miracles? 

30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak 
with tongues? do all interpret? 

31 But covet earnestly the best gifts : and yet 
shew I unto you a more excellent way. 



"As no key can open all locks, so no one man possesses all talents. God 
distributes His gifts according to His holy will, this to one, that to another; 
and none is of himself sufficient for all emergencies, and independent of the 
help of others." — Scriver. 

" Every man must fill the measure of his capacity. Your business is to 
do your allotted work so as to meet the approbation of the Master." — 
jfosepli Parker. 

" Do not be envious because thou canst not be as active as others. The 
question does not turn upon the magnitude of the work done, or upon 
thy sharp-sightedness or keenness of wit, but upon the state of thy heart 
and the quality of thy faith. Attend to thy business and be satisfied with 
thy lot. God will reward according to His will." — Selected. 

"Ah, Lord Jesus, show Thy living power in me, so that I may be found a 
steadfast, friendly, and useful member in Thy body ! " — Pieger. 

Closet Promise. — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 
and Cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, 
neither shadow of turning. — James i. 17. 



It fortifies my soul to know 
That, though I perish. Truth is so: 
That howsoe'er I stray and range, 
Whate'er 1 do, Thou dost not change. 



I steadier step when I recall 
That, if I slip, Thou dost not fall. 

— Arthur Hugh Clough. 



SATURDAY. 

Acceptable Fasting. — Isa. Iviii. 



1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like 
a trumpet, and shew my people their transgres- 
sion, and the house of Jacob their sins. 

2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to 
know my ways, as a nation that did righteous- 
ness, and forsook not the ordinance of their 
God : they ask of me the ordinances of justice; 
they take deli{,ht in approaching to God. 

3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and 
thou seest not ? wherefore have we afflicted our 
soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, 
in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and ex- 
act all your labours. 



4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and 
to smite with the fist of wickedness : ye shall 
not fast as 1'^ du this day, to make your voice to 
be heard on high. 

5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen ? a day 
for a man to afflict his soul ? is it to bow down 
his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth 
and ashes tmder him ? wilt thou call this a fast, 
and an acceptable day to the LoRD ? 

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? to 
loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the 
heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, 
and that ye brake every yoke ? 



424 



THIRTY-THIRD WEEK. 



7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, 
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to 
thy house? when thou seest the naked, that 
thou cover him ; and that thou hide not thyself 
from thine own flesh ? 

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the 
morning, and thine health shall spring forth 
speedily : and thy righteousness shall go before 
thee ; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear- 
ward. 

9 Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall 
answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say. Here 
I atn. If thou take away from the midst of thee 
the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and 
speaking vanity ; 

10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the 
hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul ; then shall 
thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be 
as the noonday : 

1 1 And the Lord shall guide thee continually. 



and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy 
bones : and thou shalt be like a watered garden, 
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail 
not. 

12 And they that shall be of thee shall build 
the old waste places : thou shalt raise up the 
foundations of many generations ; and thou .shalt 
be called, The repairer of the breach. The re- 
storer of paths to dwell in. 

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sab- 
bath, _/y-6i;/i doing thy pleasure on my holy day; 
and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the 
Lord, honourable ; and shalt honour him, not 
doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own 
pleasure, nor speaking thijie own words : 

14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the 
Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the 
high places of the earth, and feed thee with the 
heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of 
the Lord hath spoken it. 



When fasting is the result of a humble and broken heart it is acceptable ; 
when it is instituted as a means oi purchasing the divine favor, and as laying 
God under obligation, it can be followed by no happy result to the soul. 

" Men may be most diligent in the external duties of religion ; most abun- 
dant in fasting and in prayer, and at the same time most unjnelding in demand- 
ing all that is due to them. Like Shylock — another Jew like those in the 
time of Isaiah — they may demand ' the pound of flesh,' at the same time 
that they may be most formal, punctual, precise and bigoted in the perform- 
ance of the external duties of religion. The sentiment taught here is, that 
if we desire to keep a fast that shall be acceptable to God, it must be such 
as shall cause us to unbind heavy burdens from the poor, and to lead us to 
telax the rigor of the claims which would be oppressive on those who are 
subject to us." — Rev. Albert Barnes. 

Read carefully verses 13 and 14. "Nor speaking thine own words" — 
literally, " Not talking talk." If the Sabbath is not a delight to our souls, 
may the cause not lie partly in this, that we permit our minds to be engrossed 
with secular affairs, and our conversation to turn upon matters which should 
be deferred to another day ? Is there not still more of what the prophet 
called " talking talk " — aimless, giddy conversation which turns the mind 
away from spiritual matters? 

Closet Promise. — They should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel 
after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us. — Acts 
xvii. 27. 



I know Thou art not far. 
My God, from me ; yon star 



Speaks of Thy nearness, and its rays 
Fall on me like Thy torch. Oh, raise 



SATURDAY. 



426 



These eyes of mine 
To see Thy face, even Thine, 
My Father and my God ! 

' Thou wilt be nearer yet, 
And one day I shall get 



The fuller vision of Thy face, 
In all its perfect light and grace ; 
When I shall see Thee as Thou art. 
And in Thy kingdom bear my part, 
My blessed King and God! " 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. — 
Psa. xcii. I. 

Weekly Proverb. — The doors of Wisdom are never shut. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SEVEN OVERCOMES OF REVELATION. 



Sunday. — The Tree of Life. — Rev. ii. 1-7. 
Monday. — Not Hurt of the Second Death. — Rev. ii. 
Tiiesday. — Hidden Manna and New Name. — Rev. ii. 
Wednesday. — The Morning Star. — Rev. ii. 18-29. 
Thursday. — White Raiment. — Rev. iii. 1-6. 
Friday. — A Pillar in the Temple. — Rev. iii. 7-13. 
Saturday. — A Seat on the Throne. — Rev. iii. 14-22. 



5-1 1. 
12-17. 



WHAT'S THE USE? 



Suppose, my little lady, 

Your doll should break her head; 
Could you make it whole by crying 

Till your eyes and nose are red? 
And wouldn't it be pleasanter 

To treat it as a joke ? 
And say you're glad 'twas Dolly's, 

And not your head that broke ? 

Suppose you're dressed for walking 

And the rain comes pouring down ; 
Will it clear off the sooner 

Because you scold and frown ? 
And wouldn't it be nicer 

For you to smile than pout ? 
And so make sunshine in the house 

When there is none without ? 

Suppose your task, my little man, 

Is very hard to get ; 
Will it make it any easier 

For you to sit and fret ? 



And wouldn't it be wiser 

Than sitting like a dunce. 
To go to work in earnest. 

And learn the thing at once ? 

Suppose that some boys have a horse, 

And some a coach and pair ; 
Will it tire you less while walking 

To say, " It isn't fair ? " 
And wouldn't it be nobler 

To keep your temper sweet 
And in your heart be thankful 

You can walk upon your feet ? 

And suppose the world don't please you, 

Nor the way some people do ; 
Do you think the whole creation 

Will be altered just for you ? 
And isn't it, my boy or girl, 

The wisest, bravest plan, 
Whatever comes, or doesn't come, 

To do the best you can ? 

— Selected. 



Little in thine own sight. — I Sam. xv. 17. 

In an English dock-yard a great ship was to be launched. An immense 
crowd gathered to see it glide down the slides that were to carry it into the 



426 THIRTY-THIRD WEEK. 

water. The blocks and wedges were knocked away ; but the massive ship 
did not stir. Just then a little boy ran forward, and began to push the ship 
with all his might. The crowd broke out into a laugh ; but it so happened 
that the vessel was almost ready to move ; the few pounds pushed b}' the 
boy were only needed to start it, and away it went into the water. Now 
that was a very little, but you see what it did. Oftentimes the little things 
you do don't seem of much account. But they are. One spring morning a 
little boy planted a single seed in a bank of earth. It grew, budded and 
blossomed into sweet blue violets unseen by the child-planter. It also 
seeded, and the seed fell out upon the bank of earth, and next spring more 
violets grew ; and so for years, increasing every season. The boy, grown a 
man in a foreign land, desired to visit his childhood's home. When he saw 
the bank of violets he remembered how, years before, he had planted there 
a single seed. " Can it be," he said, " that all these have sprung from the 
single seed I planted ? I will never waste a single seed." Oh, dear chil- 
dren, remember the importance of little things ! 




OUR PETS. 

428 



OUR PETS. 

Everybody likes pets. Some like one kind of pets, some another kind. 
There are pet dogs, pet cats, pet horses, pet lambs and pet birds. In the 
picture are two pet doves. Sometimes there are very strange things for 
pets. I knew a family that had a pet turtle. He would climb up the steps 
and come into the house to be fed. In the torrid zone snakes are sometimes 
kept to destroy vermin. The rat-snake of Ceylon is often kept as a house- 
hold pet by the natives ; and, what is still more remarkable, even the 
dreaded cobras are domesticated in the place of dogs. They glide about 
the house, going in and out at pleasure, a terror to thieves, but never 
attempting to harm members of the family. 

A little boy once had a pet bird, of which he was very fond. He took 
great delight in playing with it. It would eat out of his hand, and perch on 
his finger. One day the bird died, and the little fellow cried almost as if his 
heart would break. At night, when his mother took him upstairs, he wanted 
to go to bed without saying his prayers. When she spoke to him about it, 
he said, " Mother, I don't want to say my prayers to-night, for my little 
birdie's dead, and I catit say, 'Thy ivill be done!" That little fellow had 
made an idol of his bird. He loved it more than God. His mother tried 
to show him how wrong it was to feel so, and taught him to pray to God 
for grace to say, " Thy will be done." 

(429) 



THIRTY-FOURTH \VEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of 
offence toward God, and toward men. — Acts xxiv. i6. 



But, above all, the victory is most sure 
For him who, seeking faith by virtue, strives 
To yield entire submission to the law 
Of conscience; conscience reverenced and 
obeyed, 



As God's most intimate presence in the soul, 
And His most perfect image in the world. 

— Selected. 



A conscience void of offence before God and man is an inheritance for 
eternity. — Daniel Webster. 

A good conscience is the palace of Christ ; the temple of the Holy Ghost. 
— Selected. 

A spiritual mind has something of the nature of the sensitive plant. " I 
shall smart if I touch this or that." There is a holy shrinking away from 
evil. — Selected. 



helps for the devotional hour. 
sundAy. 

Heaven-Sick. — 2 Cor. v. i-io. 



1 For we know that, if our earthly house of 
Ms tabernacle were dissolved, we have a build- 
ing of God, a house not made with hands, eter- 
nal in the heavens. 

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to 
be clothed upon with our house which is from 
heaven : 

3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be 
found naked. 

4 For we that are in //ns tabernacle do groan, 
being burdened : not for that we would be un- 
clothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might 
be swallowed up of life. 

5 Now he that hath wrought us for the self- 



same thing is God, who also hath given unto us 
the earnest of the Spirit. 

6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing 
that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are 
absent from the Lord : 

7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight :) 

8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather 
to be absent from the body, and to be present 
with the Lord. 

9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present 
or absent, we may be accepted of him. 

10 For we must all appear before the judg- 
ment seat of Christ ; that every one may re- 
ceive the things (/owif in /5?V body, according to 
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 



What home-sickness is to the child away at school, that to the soul is 
heaven-sickness, which, sets us free from the ten thousand joys and sorrows 
of this world, if we really are heaven-sick. 

" Shall we say the Christian is dead because the tabernacle is rent? No! 
The inhabitant of that clay-hou.se home has only moved out of his temporary 
shanty into his ' house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'" — Rev. 
B. Pouicroy. 
(430) 



SUNDAY. 



431 



One look into heaven pays better than the whole experience of a life of 
joy here. 

" The places that know you will soon know you no more forever. The 
cares that made you fret yesterday are already below the horizon. The 
troubles that make you anxious to-day will not be troubles when you meet 
them. But what if they were? A cloud no bigger than a man's hand is 
swelling and filling the whole heaven. What then? To-day its bolts may 
smite you ; but to-morrow you will be in heaven. Your children have died 
and gone home; but what of that? Soon you will follow them. Your 
friends have gone on before ; but what of that ? You will soon be with 
them. Your life is full of troubles and mischiefs ; but what of that ? Those 
mischiefs and troubles are nearly over — nearer than you think. The glo- 
rious future is almost yours." — H. W. Beecher. 

'Closet Promise. — Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not 
yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that when He shall appear, we 
shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him as He is. — i John iii. 2. 



' What must it be to dwell above, 

At God's right hand, where Jesus reigns. 
Since the sweet earnest of his love 



O'erwhelms us on these dreary plains. 
No heart can think, no tongue explain. 
What bliss it is with Christ to reign." 



MONDAY. 

Philip and the Ethiopian. — Acts viii. 26-40. 



26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto 
Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south, 
unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem 
unto Gaza, which is desert. 

27 And he arose and went : and, behold, a 
man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority 
under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who 
had the charge of all her treasure, and had 
come to Jerusalem for to worship, 

28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot 
read Esaias the prophet. 

29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, 
and join thyself to this chariot. 

30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard 
him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Under- 
standest thou what thou readest ? 

31 And he said, How can I, except some 
man should guide me ? And he desired Philip 
that he would come up and sit with him. 

32 The place of the Scripture which he read 
was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter ; 
and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so 
opened he not his mouth : 

33 In his humiliation his judgment was 
taken away: and who shall declare his genera- 
tion ? for his life is taken from the earth. 



34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and 
said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet 
this ? of himself, or of some other man ? 

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and be- 
gan at the same Scripture, and preached unto 
him Jesus. 

36 And as they went on their way, they 
came unto a certain water : and the eunuch said, 
See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be 
baptized ? 

37 And Philip said. If thou believest with all 
thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered 
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son 
of God. 

38 And he commanded the chariot to stand 
still: and they went down both into the 
water, both Philip and the eunuch ; and he 
baptized him. 

39 And when they were come up out of the 
water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away 
Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more : and 
he went on his way rejoicing. 

40 But Philip was found at Azotus : and 
passing through he preached in all the cities, 
till he came to Cesarea. 



432 THIRTY-FOURTH WEEK. 

Philip was one of the seven chosen to care for the poor (chap. vi. 5), 
and was not officially commissioned to proclaim the word. But the opera- 
tions of the Divine Spirit are not bound by human order. Every converted 
man should be a missionary to and seek the conversion of every uncon- 
verted man. We may learn from the example of Philip, that temporal busi- 
ness, though connected with the church, does not excuse from spiritual 
labors. Even the daily ministrations of bread required men full of faith and 
of the Holy Ghost; and these were the very qualifications for ministering 
the bread of eternal life to a famishing world. 

" The care of the temporalities does not justify any in leaving the higher 
talent wrapped up in a napkin. Surely, though all may not compete with 
Philip preaching to thousands in the streets of Samaria, yet all may copy 
him here in the desert."— J?. R. Meredith, D. D. 

There is a certain part which every sinner must take in his own conver- 
sion. What this is finds illustration in the case of the Ethiopian, i. A sin- 
cere inquiry after truth. 2. A teachable spirit. " How can I, except some one 
should guide me." 3. An implicit faith. When Philip showed him Christ 
in the prophecy, he accepted Him as the Son of God, and trusted in Him as 
a Saviour. 4. An open confession of Christ. With this man to hear was to 
believe, and to believe was to obey. He accepted baptism at once. This act 
was a public acknowledgment of Christ. It was more public in this desert 
place than if it had been performed in the city of Jerusalem among a com- 
pany of believers, supposing his own followers to have been absent. 

Closet Promise. — He restoreth my soul. — Psalm xxiii. 3. 

We have been wandering away; now He restoreth us. We are sick in 
soul ; He giveth health. Saints, are you out of any gospel goods ? Go 
right to the storehouse of the Lord and have restored what you have lost. 
How is your faith this morning? — Love? — Hope? I do not think God is 
pleased with empty shelves. He doesn't like complaining Christians, or 
Christians who are always telling what poor faith or hope they have. 

I have read of a brother who used to pray : " O Lord, make me so full of 
Thee that there will be no room for evil ! " The devil passes by such a man 
and says, No room there. Be full. The clouds come and hold the full 
goblets to the parched lips of the flowers. In my garden I hear the watery 
footsteps as the clouds come and give to overflowing. So God is ever read"- 
to come and pour out blessings on the waiting Christian. 




GETHSEMANE. 

What! could ye not watch with Me one hour? — Malt. xxvi. 40 

433 



TUESDAY. 



4gS 



TUESDAY. 

His Tender Mercy. — Isa. xlii. 1-16. 



1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold ; mine 
elect, in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put 
my Spirit upon him : he shall bring forth judg- 
ment to the Gentiles. 

2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his 
voice to be heard in the street. 

3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the 
smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall 
bring forth judgment unto truth. 

4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he 
have set judgment in the earth : and the isles 
shall wait for his law. 

5 Thus saith God the Lord, he that created 
the heavens, and stretched them ouf; he that 
spread forth the earth, and that which cometh 
out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people 
upon it, and spirit to them that walk tliereiu: 

6 I the Lord have called thee in righteous- 
ness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep 
thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, 
for a light of the Gentiles ; 

7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the 
prisoners from the prison, atid\}a&ca. that sit in 
darkness out of the prison house. 

8 I am the Lord ; that is my name : and my 
glory will I not give to another, neither my 
praise to graven images. 

9 Behold, the former things are come to pass. 



and new things do I declare : before they spring 
forth I tell you of them. 

10 \ Sing unto the Lord a new song, and 
his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go 
down to the sea, and all that is therein ; the 
isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 

11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof 
lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth 
inhabit : let the inhabitants of the rock sing, 
let them shout from the top of the mountains. 

12 Let them give glory unto the Lord, and 
declare his praise in the islands. 

13 The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, 
he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war : he 
shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his 
enemies. 

14 I have long time holden my peace; I 
have been still, a«a' refrained myself: 7iow will 
I cry like a travailing woman ; I will destroy 
and devour at once. 

15 I will make waste mountains and hills, 
and dry up all their herbs ; and I will make the 
rivers islaVids, and I will dry up the pools. 

16 And I will bring the blind by a way that 
they knew not; I will lead them in paths that 
they have not known : I will make darkness 
light before them, and crooked things straight. 
These things will I do unto them, and not for- 
sake them. 



In this lesson the prophet describes the character of the Messiah. He is 
the servant of Jehovah, endowed with the fulness of the Divine Spirit ; 
meek, and lowly, and gentle, and kind ; unobtrusive and noiseless in His 
movements, and yet securing the conquest of truth. 

In verse 3 His tender mercy is beautifully set forth. Luther has well 
expressed this : " He does not cast away nor crush, nor condemn the 
wounded in conscience, those who are terrified in view of their sins ; the 
weak in faith and practice ; but watches over and cherishes them, makes 
them whole, and affectionately embraces them." 

" ' A bruised reed He will not break.' Simple but expressive emblem ! 
The most fragile thing in nature is the shivering reed by the river side. The 
Eastern shepherd tending his flock by the streams where these reeds grow, 
appears to have used them for his rustic pipe. When one of them was 
bruised or broken, he never made the attempt to mend it. By inserting it 
among the others he would make his instrument discordant, and accordingly 
he threw it aside as worthless. Not so the Great Shepherd. When 
a human soul is bruised and mutilated by sin, He casts it not away. That 



436 



THIRTY-FOURTH WEEK. 



bruised reed ' He will not break.' He repairs it for its place in the heavenly 
instrument, and makes it once more to show forth His praise." — Macdttff. 

Closet Promise. — I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; 
I will lead them in paths that they have not known. — Isa. xlii. i6. 

Oh, what joy it brings to me to think that I am not a lonely wanderer 
trying to find my way, but that the vague and inexplicable yearnings which 
I have, and which I am following, are the drawing-strings thrown out to 
lead me by One who knows just what my necessities are, and who stands 
ready to relieve them all. He is my King, my Priest, my Prophet, my all 
in all, to do whatever I need to have done, in body or soul, for time and for 
eternity. 

WEDNESDAY. 

The King and His Spouse.— Psalm xlv. 



1 My heart is inditing a good matter : I 
speak of the things which I have made touch- 
ing the king : my tongue is the pen of a ready 
writer. 

2 Thou art fairer than the children of men : 
grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God 
hath blessed thee for ever. 

3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most 
mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. 

4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously, be- 
cause of truth and meekness and righteousness ; 
and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible 
things. 

5 Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the 
king's enem.ies; whereby the people fall under 
thee. 

6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever : 
the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 

7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wick- 
edness : therefore God, thy God, hath anointed 
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 

8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and 
aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, 
whereby they have made thee glad. 



9 Kings' daughters were among thy honour- 
able Vi'omen : upon thy right hand did stand the 
queen in gold of Ophir. 

10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and 
incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, 
and thy father's house ; 

11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty ; 
for he is thy Lord ; and worship thou him. 

12 And the daughter of Tyxt shall be there 
with a gift; even the rich among the people 
shall entreat thy favour. 

13 The king's daughter is all glorious within : 
her clothing is of wrought gold. 

14 She shall be brought unto the king in rai- 
ment of needlework : the virgins her compan- 
ions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. 

15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be 
brought : they shall enter into the king's palace. 

16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy chil- 
dren, whom thou mayest make princes in all the 
earth. 

17 I will make thy name to be remembered in 
all generations : therefore shall the people praise 
thee for ever and ever. 



This Psalm is the Nuptial Song of Christ and the Church — " which has 
for its peculiar theme the home-bringing of Christ's elect, that they may be 
joined to Him in a union that shall survive the everlasting hills." — Williaiii 
Binnie. 

" Verse i is an announcement of intention, a preface to the song ; verse 2 
adores the matchless beauty of Messiah; and from 3 to 9 he is addiessed 
in admiring ascriptions of praise. Verses 10-12 are spoken to the bride. 
The church is further spoken of in verses 13-15, and the psalm closes 



WE DNESDAY, 



437 



with another address to the king, foretelh'ng his eternal fame, i6, 17. — C. H. 
Spurge 071. 

Our precious Christ can never be made too much of. Jesus is so emphat- 
ically lovely that words must be doubled, strained, yea, exhausted, before 
he can be described. 

" O fair sun, and fair moon, and fair stars, and fair flowers, and fair roses, 
and fair lilies; but O ten thousand thousand times fairer Lord Jesus! Alas! 
I have wronged Him in making the comparison this way. O black sun and 
moon ! but O fair Lord Jesus! O black flowers, and black lilies, and roses ! 
but O fair, fair, ever fair Lord Jesus ! O black heaven ! but O fair Christ ! 
O black angels ! but O surpassingly fair Lord Jesus ! " — Samuel Rjitherford. 

Closet Promise. — He leadeth me. — Psalm xxiii. 2. 



In " pastures green ? '' Not always ; sometimes 

He 
Who knoweih best, in kindness leadeth me 
In weary ways, where heavy shadows be. 



So, whether on the hill-tops high and fair 
I dwell, or in the sunless valleys, where 
The shadows lie, what matter ? He is there. 
— Henry H. Barry. 



THURSDAY. 

Abused Mercy. — Matt. xxi. 33-46. 



33 ^ Hear another parable : There was a 
certain householder, which planted a vineyard, 
and hedged it round aLout, and digged a wine- 
press in It, and built a tower, and let it out to 
husbandmen, and went into a far country: 

34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, 
he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that 
they might receive the fruits of it. 

35 And the husbandmen took his servants, 
and beat one, and killed another, and stoned 
another. 

36 Again, he sent otlicr servants more than 
the first : and they did unto them likewise. 

37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, 
saying, They will reverence my son. 

38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, 
they said among themselves, This is the heir; 
come, let us kill him, and iet us seize on his in- 
heritance. 

39 And they caught him, and cast him out 
of the vineyard, and .slew !iim. 

40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard 



cometh, what will he do unto those husband- 
men ? 

41 They say unto him. He will miserably 
destroy those wicked men, and will let out hh 
vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall 
render him the fruits in their seasons. 

42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read 
in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders 
rejected, the same is become the head of the 
corner : this is the Lord's doing, and it is mar- 
vellous in our eyes? 

43 Therefore say I unto you. The kingdom 
of God shall be taken from you, and given to a 
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone 
shall be broken : but on whomsoever it shall fall, 
it will grind him to powder. 

45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees 
had heard his parables, they perceived that he 
spake of them. 

46 But when they sought to lay hands on 
him, they feared the multitude, because they 
took him for a prophet. 



In this parable we note two things : 

" I. The Ow7icrs Claim. His right and authority are complete. God 
presses His right to our love and service. Blessings are privileges, and 
privileges arc obligations. II. The Ozvncr's Losing Patience. There never 



438 THIRTY-FOURTH WEEK. 

was an earthly employer who showed such persistent kindness towards such 
persistent rebellion. The account of servants sent again and again, in spite 
of insults and death, is a faint picture of His forbearance towards Israel. 
Mercies, deHverances, revelations, pleadings gather, a shining host, around 
all their history as the angelic camp was close to Jacob on his journey. 
But all along the history stand dark and blood-stained images of mercies 
despised and prophets ,slain. The tenderness of God in the old dispensation 
is wonderful; but in Christ it appears in a pathos of yearning." — Charles M. 
SoutJigatc. 

Let us be thankful that God has planted His vineyard among us. We 
are situated, not in any of the deserts, or wastes, or commons of the world, 
but in the vineyard, in " a garden inclosed," in the very garden of the Lord. 
What reception are we giving to God's ministers, and especially to God's 
beloved Son ? 

" Nothing so cold as lead, yet nothing more scalding if molten ; nothing 
more blunt than iron, and yet nothing so keen if sharpened. . . . Thus it is 
that mercy abused turns to inxy ; God, as He is a God of mercies, so He is 
a God of judgment; and it is a fearful thing to fall into His punishing 
hands." — John Trapp. 

Closet Promise. — Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us 
from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good 
works. — Titus ii. 14. 

The word " peculiar " contains the fundamental idea of divine ownership. 
A " peculiar people ; " that is, a people for His own possession. 

Robert Hall said : " We are not a race of independent creatures, aban- 
doned to live without control ; we are not sent into the world to follow the 
dictates of our own will. We cannot commit a greater mistake than to 
suppose that we are in zny sense our own; we belong to another; even 
our limbs and faculties do not so much belong to ourselves as we do to our 
Maker. To do His will, to conform to His pleasure, to keep His com- 
mandments, to promote His glory — these are the great ends of our existence, 
and to attain them ought to be the fundamental law of our being ; otherwise 
we live in vain — worse than in vain, and it would have been better for us 
never to have had an existence." 



FRIDAY. 



439 



FRIDAY. 

Cleansing. — Ezek. xxxvi. 25-38. 



25 ^ Then will I sprinkle clean water upon 
you, and ye shall be clean : from all your 
filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse 
you. 

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a 
new spirit will I put within you: and I will 
lake away the stony heart out of your flesh, and 
I will give you a heart of flesh. 

27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and 
cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall 
keep my judgments, and do theiit. 

28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave 
to your fathers ; and ye shall be my people, and 
I will be your God. 

29 I will also save you from all your unclean- 
nesses : and I will call for the corn, and will 
increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, 
and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive 
no more reproach of famine among the heathen. 

31 Then shall ye remember your own evil 
ways, and your doings that were not good, and 
shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for 
your iniquities and for your abominations. 

32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the 
Lord God, be it known unto you : be ashamed 



and confounded for your own ways, O house of 
Israel. 

33 Thus saith the Lord God ; In the day that 
I shall have cleansed you from all your iniqui- 
ties I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, 
and the wastes shall be builded. 

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, 
whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that 
passed by. 

35 And they shall say. This land that was 
desolate is become like the garden of Eden ; 
and the waste and desolate and ruined cities 
are become fenced, and are inhabited. 

36 Then the heathen that are left round about 
you shall know that I the Lord build the 
ruined places, and plant that that was desolate : 
I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. 

37 Thus saith the Lord God ; I will yet for 
this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do 
it for them ; I will increase them with men like 
a flock. 

38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusa- 
lem in her solemn feasts ; so shall the waste 
cities be filled with flocks of men : and they 
shall know that I am the LoRD. 



Who can read verses 26 and 27 and doubt, for one moment, that regen- 
eration is a thorough change of heart ? 

" Observe the order in which these things are arranged. ' I will give 
them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them ; and I will take the 
stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh ; that they 
may walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do them.' Thus 
principle precedes practice, and prepares for it. And here we admire the 
plan of the gospel. To make the fruit good, it makes the tree also ; to cleanse 
the stream, it purifies the fountain. It renews the nature, and the life 
becomes holy of course." — Jay. 

Then, also, the Lord effectually cleanses all His people (verse 25). 

1. From all their filthiness. All. All the filthiness of their hirth-sin ; all 
that came out of them in their childhood. All their actual filthiness. 

2. From all their idols. Is your heart-house stuffed full with idols of one 
sort or another ? The Lord of Love will come in with His salvation, turn 
those idols out, and reigrn in their stead. 



Closet Promise.— And the peace of God, which passeth all understand- 
ing, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. — Phil, iv. 7. 



440 



THIRTY -FOURTH WKEK 



What a promise ! What more unmanageable than our tyrant thoughts! 
And yet the promise is, He will garrison our hearts with the peace of God 
which passeth all understanding. 



Let every thought 
Be captive brought. 
Lord Jesus Christ, to Thine own sweet obedi- 
ence ! 



That I may know. 
In ebbless flow, 
The perfect peace of full and pure allegiance. 
— Frances Ridley Uavergal. 



SATURDAY. 

Your Utmost Diligence. — 2 Pet. 



1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write 
unto you; in both which I stir up your pure 
minds by way of remembrance : 

2 That ye may be mindful of the words 
which were spolien before by the holy prophets, 
and of the commandment of us the apostles of 
the Lord and Saviour : 

3 Knowing this first, that there shall come 
in the last days scoffers, walking after their own 
Justs, 

4 And s.aying. Where is the promise of his 
coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all 
things continue as they were hom the beginning 
of the creation, 

5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that 
by the word of God the heavens were of old, 
and the eaith standing out of the water and in 
the water : 

6 Whereby the world that then was, being 
overflowed with water, perished : 

7 But the heavens and the earth, which are 
now, by the same word are kept in store, re- 
served unto fire against the day of judgment 
and perdition of ungodly men. 

8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one 
thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thou- 
sand years, and a thousand years as one day. 

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his 
promise, as soine men count slackness ; but is 
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing thai any 
should perish, but that all should come to re- 
pentance. 

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a 
thief in the night; in the which the heavens 



shall pass away with a great noise, and the ele- 
ments shall melt with fervent heat, the earth 
also and the works that are therein shall be 
burned up. 

1 1 Seeing then that all these things shall be 
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to 
be in all holy conversation and godliness, 

12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming 
of the day of God, wherein the heavens being 
on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements 
shall melt with fervent heat ? 

13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, 
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness. 

14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look 
for such things, be diligent that ye may be 
found of him in peace, without spot, and blame- 
less. 

15 And account that the longsuffering of our 
Lord is salvation ; even as our beloved brother 
Paul also according to the wisdom given unto 
him hath written unto you ; 

16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in 
them of these things ; in which are some thing-^ 
hard to be understood, which they that are un- 
learned and unstable vt-rest, as they do also the 
other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. 

17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know 
these things before, beware lest ye also, being 
led away with the error of the wicked, fall 
from your own steadfastness. 

18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him 
be gliiry both now and for ever. Amen. 



The second coming of Christ is constantly represented in the New Testa- 
ment as near, and the view is natural and true. 

" The servant that looks for his master will be loth to be found in bed 
when he comes ; no, he sits up to open the door for him when he knocks. 
Christ hath told us He will come, but not when, that we might never put 
off our clothes, or put out the candle. ' Watch, therefore, for ye know not 
what hour the Lord doth come.' " — Gurvall. 



SATURDAY. 441 

" Whether I eat or drink, or in whatever other action or employment I 
am engaged, that solemn voice always seems to sound in my ears, 'Arise, 
ye dead, and come to judgment.' As often as I think of the Day of Judg- 
ment my heart quakes, and my whole frame trembles. If I am to indulge 
in any of the pleasures of the present life, I am resolved to do it in such 
a way that the solemn realities of the future judgment may never be 
banished from my recollection." — St. jferome. 

" Strive that the Lord at His coming may find you peaceful and recon- 
ciled." — Gerhard. 

Closet Promise. — I will not leave you comfortless : I will come to you. 
— John xiv. 1 8. 

Into sick-rooms, where His children lie, Jesus often comes. No physi- 
cian visits so faithfully. Noble old Halyburton, of Scotland, said one 
morning to his family, "Jesus came to me in the third watch of last night, 
walking upon the waters. He said to me, ' I am Alpha and Omega, the 
beginning and the end, and I have the keys of hell and death.' He stilled 
the storm in my soul^ and lo ! there was a sweet calm." — T. L. Cuyler,D. D. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — How sweet are Thy words unto my taste. — Psalm 
cxix. 103. 

Weekly Proverb. — Success has ruined many a man. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SCENES IN THE LIFE OF SAMSON. 

Stinday. — Samson's Birth. — Judges xiii. 1-25. 
Monday. — He Kills a Lion. — Judges xiv. 1-9. 
Tuesday. — Samson's Riddle. — Judges xiv. 10-20. 
Wednesday. — Samson's Foxes. — Judges xv. 1-8. 
Thursday. — A Jawbone for a Sword. — Judges xv. 9-20. 
Friday. — Delilah's Scissors — Judges xvi. 1-20. 
Saturday. — Samson in Chains. — Judges xvi. 21-31. 

A LITTLE CHILD'S RESOLVE. 



I will not swear, 
I will not dare 
God's name in vain to take ; 



I will not lie, 
But I will try 
The truth my guide to make. 

—Selected. 



As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. — 
Luke vi. 31. 
25 



442 THIRTY-FOURTH WEEK. 

Our verse to-day is what is called the " Golden Rule." I wish every one 
of my little friends would commit it to memory. If you always keep that 
rule you will make a great deal of happiness in this world. I read of a 
good man who lived in Massachusetts. One day his horse happened to stray 
into the road ; his neighbor took him and put him into the pouTid. Meet- 
ing the owner soon after, he told him what he had done, "and if I catch 
him in the road again," he said, "77/ do it again." " Neighbor/' replied the 
good man, " not long since I looked out of my window in the night, and 
saw your cattle in my meadow, and I drove them out and shut them in your 
yard, and I'll do it again!' The other man went right off, and let the horse 
out of the pound, and paid the charges himself. Now, don't you see how 
the good man kept the " Golden Rule " — he did as he woidd like to be done 
by. And his act taught his mean neighbor a good lesson. When your 
little playmates treat you meanly, do you treat them kindly ; then you will 
be obeying the " Golden Rule." 




LEFT IN CHARGE. 



LEFT IN CHARGE. 

This boy has been left in charge of the baby. The mother must leave 
the room to look after her household duties ; or, it may be, must go to the 
store to make some purchases. The Bible says, " Honor thy father and thy 
mother." Now, if we would honor our parents, we must obey them. We 
must not stop to ask questions about what we are told to do, or try to find 
out the reason for it. It is reason enough that our parents tell us to do a 
thing. 

If a boy is bidden to mind the baby, and chooses to do something 
else, the goodness of that something else and of the way in which it is done 
will not save him from censure. The commander of the ship-of-war 
" Orient," before the battle of the Nile, placed his son, thirteen years of age, 
on certain duty, to stay at his post till relieved by his father's order. Soon 
after the father was slain. The boy held his post in the midst of fearful 
carnage, ignorant of his father's fate ; and, while the sailors were deserting 
the burning and sinking ship, he cried, " Father, may I go ? " The permis- 
sion did not come from his dead father's lips, and there he stood alone, firm 
at his post, and perished in the flames. 

A noble saying is on record of a member of the British House of Com- 
mons, who, by his own industry and perseverance, had won his way to that 
high position. A proud son of an aristocratic family one day taunted him 
with his humble origin, saying, " I remember when you blacked my father's 
boots." "Well, sir," was the noble response, "did I not do it well?" 
Whatever you do, be it so humble a duty as minding the baby, do it ivell. 

(445) 



THIRTY-FIFTH ^A^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in Him ; and He shall bring 
it to pass. — Psalm xxxvii. 5. 



All my times shall ever be 
Ordered by Thy wise decree : 
Times of sickness, times of health, 
Times of penury and wealth. 



Times of trial and of grief, 
Times of triumph and relief. 



-Selected. 



Experience is an excellent schoolmaster ; but he does charge such dread- 
ful wages. — Carlyle. 

A Christian life is full of mysteries : poor, and yet rich ; base, and yet 
exalted ; shut out of the world, and yet admitted into the company of saints 
and angels ; the world's dirt, and God's jewels. — T. Manton. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Jesus and the Young. — Mark x. 13-22. 



13 ^ And they brought young children to 
him, that he should touch them ; and his disci- 
ples rebuked those that brought ihetn. 

14 But when Jesus saw //, he was much dis- 
pleased, and said unto them, Suffer the little 
children to come unto me, and forbid them not; 
for of such is the kingdom of God. 

15 Verily I say unto you. Whosoever shall 
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, 
he shall not enter therein. 

16 And he took them up in his arms, put his 
hands upon them, and blessed them. 

17 \ And when he was gone forth into the 
way, there came one running, and kneeled to 
him, and asked him, Good master, what shall I 
do that I may inherit eternal life ? 

18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest 



thou me good ? there is none good but one, that 
is, God. 

19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do 
not commit adultery, Do not kill. Do not steal. 
Do not bear false witness, Defraud not. Hon- 
our thy father and mother. 

20 And he answered and said unto him. 
Master, all these have I observed from my 
youth. 

21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and 
said unto him. One thing thou lackest : go thy 
way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the 
poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven ; 
and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 

22 And he was sad at that saying, and went 
away grieved : for he had great possessions. 



yesus and Children — is there a more beautiful scene in all the Bible ? 

" Jesus is attractive to children. There are some men and women for 
whom they do not care. Jesus is not like these. There are others for whom 
children are never shy, or afraid. Jesus is like these." — A. McAnslane, D. D. 

Jesus is still calling little children to Him. His arms are ever open to 
receive them, and His lips parted to bless them. Let us beware of throwing 
any impediment between them and their Saviour, We cannot too fully ap- 
preciate the importance of early conversion. Conversions after forty years 
(446) 



SUNDAY, 



447 



are very rare : like the scattered grapes on the remotest branches after the 
vintage is over, there is only one here and there. 

In the case of the young ruler the lesson taught is this : Heaven won by 
being, not doing. His trouble was self-satisfaction. " This young man thought 
himself somewhat beforehand, and .that God, perchance, was in his debt. 
Truly, many nowadays grow crooked and aged with over-good opinions 
of themselves, and can hardly ever be set right again." — !^o/in Trapp. 

Possessions that possess. "Every man hath some such possessions as pos- 
sess him, some such affections as weigh down Christ Jesus, and separate him 
from Him, rather than from those affections, those possessions." — Dr. Donne. 

The Christian's possessioft. " He who has left all things begins to possess 
God ; and he who has God for his portion is the possessor of all nature. 
Instead of lands, he is sufficient to himself, having good fruit which cannot 
perish. Instead of houses, it is enough for him that there is the habitation 
of God, and the temple of God, than which nothing can be more precious. 
For what is more precious than God ? That is the portion which no 
earthly inheritance can equal." — Ambrose. 

Closet Promise. — Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble: 
Thou wilt prepare their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear. — Psalm 
X. 17. 

" Learn to entwine with prayers the small cares, the trifling sorrows, the 
little wants of daily life. Whatever affects you — be it a changed look, an 
altered tone, an unkind word, a wrong, a wound, a demand you cannot meet, 
a sorrow you cannot disclose — turn it into prayer, and send it up to God. 
Disclosures you may not make to man you can make to the Lord. Men 
may be too little for your great matter ; God is not too great for your small 
ones. Only give yourself to prayer, whatever be the occasion that calls 
for it." 



MONDAY. 

Crossing the Jordan. — Josh. iii. 5-17. 



5 And Joslma said unto the people, Sanctify 
yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do 
wonders among you. 

6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, 
Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over 
before the people. And they took up the ark 
of the covenant, and went before the people. 

7 And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day 
will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all 
Israel, that they may know that, as I was with 
Moses, so I will be with thee. 

8 And thou shalt command the priests that 



bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye 
are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, 
ye shall stand still in Jordan. 

9 \ And Joshua said unto the children of Is- 
rael, Come hither, and hear the words of the 
Lord your God. 

10 And Joshua said. Hereby ye shall know 
that the living God is among you, and that he 
will without fail drive out from before you the 
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, 
and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the 
Amorites, and the Jebusites. 



448 



THIRTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord of all the earth passeth over before you 
into Jordan. 

12 Now therefore take you twelve men out 
of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. 

13 And it shall come to pass, as soim as the 
soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark 
of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall 
rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of 
Jordan shall be cut o^ from the waters that 
come down from above ; and they shall stand 
upon a heap. 

14 And it came to pass, when the people re- 
moved from their tents, to pass over Jordan, 
and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant 
before the people ; 

15 And as they that bare the ark were come 



unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that 
bare the* ark were dipped in the brim of the 
water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all 
the time of harvest,) 

16 That the waters which came down from 
above stood and rose up upon a heap very far 
from the city Adam, that is beside Zarelan ; 
and those that came down toward the sea of 
the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut 
off: and the people passed over right against 
Jericho. 

17 And the priests that bare the ark of the 
covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground 
in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites 
passed over on dry ground, until all the people 
were passed clean over Jordan. 



To my thinking, this stepping into a brimming river, when as yet there 
was no sign of a path, is one of the grandest pictures of faith on record. 
It required a stronger faith to cross the Jordan than to cross the Red Sea. 
At the Red Sea the path was made, before the Israehtes were called upon 
to take a single step. But here the path was only made wheti they stepped. 
And so in our conversion, we believe in an already accomplished fact ; while 
in the realization of every promise made to the Christian believer, the fact 
is accomplished when we believe, and the work goes on as we trust. 

There are many beautiful illustrations of /;w;«.y^j \.\\\is proved. A poor 
traveller called upon a certain good man named Fenneberg, to borrow three 
dollars ; this was the whole amount of money possessed by this modern 
Nathaniel ; but as the poor, traveller asked for it in the name of Jesus, he 
lent him all he had, even to the last penny. Some time after, being in 
absolute want himself, he remembered the fact while at prayer, and with 
childlike faith and simplicity, he said : " O Lord, I have lent Thee three 
dollars, and Thou hast not given them back to me, though Thou knowest 
how urgently I need them ; I pray Thee to return them to me." The very 
same day a letter arrived containing money, which Gossner, his pastor, 
delivered to the good man, with these words : " Here, sir, you receive what 
you advanced." The letter contained two hundred dollars, which was sent 
to him by a rich man, at the solicitation of the poor traveller to whom he 
had lent his all. Fenneberg, quite overcotne with surprise, said, in his child- 
like wa}'- : " O, dear Lord, one cannot say a single word to Thee, without 
being put to shame." 

Closet Promise. — I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying 
unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. — Isa. xli. 13. 



MONDAY. 



449 



Just as God leads me, I would go ; 

I would not ask to choose my way ; 
Content with what He will bestow, 

Assured He will not let me stray. 
So, as He leads, my path I make. 
And step by step I gladly take — 

A child in Him confiding. 

Just as God leads me, I abide. 

In faith, in hope, in suffering, true: 

His strength is ever by my side ; 
Can aught my hold on Him undo ? 



I hold me firm in patience, knowing 

That God my life is still bestowing, 

The best in kindness sending. 

Just as God leads, I onward go, 
Oft amid thorns and briers keen ; 

God does not yet His guidance show, 
But in the end it shall be seen. 

How, by a loving Father's will. 

Faithful and true. He leads me still. 
My trembling footsteps guiding. 

— Lampertius. 



TUESDAY. 

The Saviour's Call. — Isa. Iv. 



1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, 
buy, and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk 
without money and without price. 

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that 
■which is not bread ? and your labour for that 
■which satisfieth not ? hearken diligently unto me, 
and eat ye that tvhich is good, and let your soul 
delight itself in fatness. 

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, 
and your soul shall live ; and I will make an ev- 
erlasting covenant with you, even the sure mer- 
cies of David. 

4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to 
the people, a leader and commander to the 
people. 

5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou 
knowest not, and nations that knew not thee 
shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy 
God, and for the Holy One of Israel ; for he 
hath glorified thee. 

6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, 
call ye upon him while he is near: 

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him re- 
turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy 



upon him ; and to our God, for he will abun- 
dantly pardon. 

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 

9 For as the heavens are higher than the 
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, 
and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

10 F"or as the rain cometh down, and the snow 
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but 
watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth 
and bud, that it may give seed to the sewer, and 
bread to the eater : 

1 1 So shall my word be that goeth forth out 
of my mouth : it shall not return unto me void, 
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and 
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 

12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led 
forth with peace : the mountains and the hills 
shall break forth before you into singing, and all 
the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir 
tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the 
myrtle tree : and it shall be to the Lord for a 
name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be 
cut off. 



The idea here is the absohite fi-eeness of the offer of salvation. No man 
can excuse himself for not being a Christian because he is poor ; no man 
who is rich can ever boast that he has bought salvation, or that he has ob- 
tained it on more easy terms because he had property. None are so poor 
that they cannot purchase it; none are so rich that they can purchase it with 
gold. If obtained at all by the poor or the rich it must be without money 
and without price. If the poor are willing to accept of it as a gift, they are 
welcome ; and if the rich will not accept of it as a gift, they cannot obtain 
it. What a debt of gratitude we owe to God, who has thus placed it within 
the reach of all ! How cheerfully and thankfully should we accept that as a 
gift which no wealth however princely could purchase, and which, being pur- 



450 



THIRTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



chased by the merits of the Redeemer, is put within the reach of the hum- 
blest child of Adam ! 

Closet Promise. — Through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto 
the Father. — Ephes. ii. i8. 

" Through Him" the glorious Intercessor, who everywhere this day 
gathers His people's prayers, and offers them as incense before the Father's 
throne. All who this day have prayed for me offer their petitions in His 
Name, and I again for them. And by the Holy Spirit, the one gracious " Com- 
forter," these prayers have ascended to " Our Father." Oh, the closeness 
of the tie that binds Christians together, — the threefold cord! love for the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. May our hearts be drawn and 
fastened heavenward with this sacred, blessed Bond, 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Christian in the World. — i Tim. vi. 6-21 



6 But godliness with contentment is great 
gain. 

7 For we brought nothing into this world, 
and ii is certain we can carry nothing out. 

8 And having food and raiment, let us be 
therewith content. 

9 But they that will be rich fall into tempta- 
tion and a snare, and info many foolish and 
hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction 
and perdition. 

10 For the love of money is the root of all 
evil : which wliile some coveted after, they have 
erred from the faith, and pierced themselves 
through with many sorrows. 

1 1 But thou, O man of God, flee these things ; 
and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, 
love, patience, meekness. 

1 2 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on 
eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and 
hast professed a good profession before many 
witnesses. 

13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, 
who quickeneth all things, and ie/ofe Christ 
Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a 
good confession ; 

14 That thou keep i/iis commandment with- 



out spot, unrebukeahle, until the appearing of 
our Lord Jesus Christ : 

15 Which in his times he shall shew, w/io is 
the blessed and only Potentate, the King of 
kings, and Lord of lords ; 

16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in 
the light which no man can approach unto ; 
whom no man hath seen, nor can see : to whom 
ie honour and power everlasting. Amen. 

17 Charge them that are rich in this world, 
that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncer- 
tain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us 
richly all things to enjoy ; 

18 That they do good, that they be rich in 
good works, ready to distribute, willing to com- 
municate ; 

19 Laying up in store for themselves a good 
foundation against the time to come, that they 
may lay hold on eternal life. 

20 6 Timothy, keep that which is committed 
to thy tru';!, avoiding profane and vain bab- 
blings, and oppositions of science falsely so 
called : 

21 Which some professing have erred con- 
cerning the faith. Grace de with thee. Amen. 



" Godliness may do a man good without gain, but worldly gain can do a 
man no good without godliness." — Gatakcr. 

"All our pieces of gold are but current to the grave; none of them will 
pass in the future world. Therefore, as merchants when they travel make 
over their money here, to receive it by bills of exchange in another 



WEDNESDAY. 



451 



country ; let us so do good with our goods while we live, that when we die, 
by a blessed bill of exchange, we may receive them again in the kingdom 
of heaven." — Adams. 

" God will never receive us upon any invoice sent from this world. Every 
man is to be reappraised, unpacked, examined, mostly thrown awaj'-; and 
that which is least esteemed here will be measured and judged as the best 
and the highest, so that the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. The 
ten thousand who go without a procession to the grave, whom no man 
knows to have died, and no man misses, have their procession on the other 
side, and armies in triumph shout them home ; while men who are followed 
to the grave by a long procession, who are buried with much state, and who 
fill the world for a time with the sound of their fall, are received on the 
other side silently and without procession, and happy is it for them if they 
do not rise to shame and everlasting contempt." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become 
my salvation. — Exod. xv. 2. 



I ask Thee for the daily strength 

To none who ask denied ; 
For a mind to blend with outward life 



While keeping at Thy side, 
Content to fill a little space 
So Thou be glorified." 



THURSDAY. 

'A New Song."— Psalm cxlix. 



1 Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord 
a new song, and his praise in the congregation 
of saints. 

2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him : 
let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. 

3 Let them praise his name in the dance : let 
them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and 
harp. 

4 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his peo- 
ple : he will beautify the meek with salvation. 



5 Let the saints be joyful in glory : let them 
sing aloud upon their beds. 

6 Let the high praises of God be in their 
mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand ; 

7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, 
a7id punishments upon the people ; 

8 To bind their kings with chains, and their 
nobles with fetters of iron ; 

9 To execute upon them the judgment writ- 
ten : this honour have all his saints. Praise ye 
the Lord. 



" This is ' a new song,' evidently intended for the new creation, and the 
men who are of new heart. It is such a song as may be sung at the coming 
of the Lord, when the new dispensation shall bring overthrow to the wicked 
and honor to all the saints." — C. H. Spiirgcon. 

" Give us, oh, give us the man who sings at his work ! Be his occupation 
what it may, he is equal to any of those who follow the same pursuit in 
silent suUenness. He will do more in the same time — he will do it better — 
he will persevere longer. One is scarcely sensible of fatigue whilst he 



452 



THIRTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



marches to music. The very stars are said to make harmony as they 
revolve in their spheres. Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, alto- 
gether past calculation its powers of endurance. Efforts to be permanently 
useful must be uniformly joyous — a spiritual sunshine — graceful from very 
gladness — beautiful because bright." — Thomas Carlyle. 

David saith, ''Let the saints sing aloud upon their beds!' If confined by 
sickness, let them joy in God. In the night watches let them not lie awake 
and weep, but like nightingales let them charm the midnight hours. What 
a blessing to have our beds made into thrones, and our retirements turned 
into triumphs! 

" This verse has been fulfilled in solemn crises of saintly life. On beds of 
death, and at the scaffold and the stake, joy and glory have been kindled in 
the hearts of Christ's faithful witnesses." — TJiomas Le Blanc. 

Closet Promise. — Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and after- 
ward receive me to glory. — Psalm Ixxiii. 24. 



Grief is strong, but joy is stronger; 
Night is long, but day is longer. 
When life's riddle solves and clears. 
And the angels in our ears 

Whisper the sweet answer low 
(Answer full of love and blessing), 

How our wonderment will grow 
At the blindness of our guessing ; 
All the hard things we recall 
Made so easy — after all ! 

Earth is sweet, but heaven is sweeter ; 
Love complete, but faith completer. 
Close beside our wandering ways, 
Through dark nights and weary days, 
Stand the angels with bright eyes ; 
And the shadow of the cross 



Falls upon and sanctifies 
All our pain and all our loss. 
Though we stumble, though we fall, 
God is helping — after all ! 

Sigh then, soul, but sing in sighing 
To the' happier things replying; 
Dry the tears that dim thy seeing, 
Give glad thoughts for life and being ; 

Time is but the little entry 
To eternity's large dwelling, 

And the heavenly guards keep sentry. 
Urging, guiding, half-compelling, 
Till the puzzling way quite past, 
Thou shall enter in — at last ! 

— Susan Coolidge. 



FRIDAY. 

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream. — Dan. ii. 31-45. 



31 ^ Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a 
great image. This great image, whose bright- 
ness ~vas excellent, Stood before thee; and the 
form thereof wa!. terrible. 

32 This image's head ivas of fine gold, his 
breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his 
thighs of brass, 

33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and 
part of clay. 

34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out 
without hands, which smote the image upon his 
feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them 
to pieces. 



35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the 
silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, 
and became lil^e the chaff of the summer thresh- 
ingfloors ; and the wind carried them away, that 
no place was found for them : and the stone that 
smote the image became a great mountain, 
and filled the whole earth. 

36 This is the dream ; and we will tell the 
interpretation thereof before the king. 

37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings : for 
the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, 
power, and strength, and glory. 

38 And wheresoever the children of men 



FRIDAY. 



453 



dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of 
the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and 
hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art 
this head of gold. 

39 And after thee shall arise another king- 
dom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom 
of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 

40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as 
iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and 
subdueth all things : and as iron that breakeih 
all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 

41 And whereas thou savvest the feet and 
toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the 
kingdom shall be divided ; but there shall be in 
it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou 
sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 

42 And as the toes of the feet were part of 
iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be 
partly strong, and partly broken. 



43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with 
miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the 
seed of men : but they shall not cleave one to 
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 

44 And in the days of these kings shall the 
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall 
never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not 
be left to other people, but it shall break in 
pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it 
shall stand for ever. 

45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone 
was cut out of the mountain without hands, and 
that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the 
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God 
hath made known to the king what shall come 
to pass hereafter : and the dream is certain, and 
the interpretation thereof sure. 



Nebuchadnezzar dreams a dream. The wise men were summoned to 
interpret it ; but they could not. Daniel shows the king the interpretation 
of it. 

Now what was this vision for ? Not to show the glory of the golden 
head, nor the splendor nor power of any of the succeeding kingdoms. It 
was to disclose the fact that all these earth-kingdoms, resplendent and pow- 
erful as they were to be, were yet to perish, and to be superseded by a 
divine kingdom that should never be destroyed. It was not only never to 
be destroyed, but was to fill the whole earth. 

" There on the hillside overlooking the sea of Galilee sits Christ. He is 
gathering around Him the passing population — men from their farms and 
from the villages — men ragged, ignorant and suffering. He opens His lips, 
and says : ' Blessed are the poor in heart, for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' But then 
and there began a kingdom that is still rolling on. The wealth of the 
world is in its treasury ; the learning of the world is in its schools ; the 
power of the world is in its greatness ; the eloquence of the world is in its life, 
and the sympathy of the world is in its heart. It is to fill the whole earth ; 
its mission is to every island, every mountain top and every valley, and it 
will conquer all, for the mouth of the Lord hath said it." 



Closet Promise. — Thou shalt show us wonderful things in Thy right- 
eousness, O God of our salvation : Thou that art the hope of all the ends of 
the earth, and of them that remain in the broad sea. — Psalm Ixv. 5. 



Let the world call herself my foe, 

Or let the world allure ; 
I care not for the world : I go 

To this dear Friend and sure. 
And when life's fiercest storms are sent, 



Upon life's wildest sea. 
My little bark is confident 
Because it holds by Thee. 

— George Macdonald. 



464 



THIRTY-FIFTH WBEK. 



SATURDAY. 

The Christian's Motto. — Phil. iii. 



1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. 
To write the same things to you, to me indeed 
is not grievous, but for you it is safe. 

2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, 
beware of the concision. 

3 For we are the circumcision, which wor- 
ship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ 
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 

4 Though I might also have confidence in 
the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he 
hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I 
more : 

5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock 
of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew 
of the Hebrews ; as touching the law, a 
Pharisee; 

6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church ; 
touching the righteousness which is in the law, 
blameless. 

7 But what things were gain to me, those I 
counted loss for Christ, 

8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things dut 
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suf- 
fered the loss of all things, and do count them 
6u( dung, that I may win Christ, 

9 And be found in him, not having mine own 
righteousness, which is of the law, but that 
which is through the faith of Christ, the right- 
eousness which is of God by faith : 

10 That I may know him, and the power of 
his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suf- 
ferings, being made conformable unto his 
death ; 



11 If by any means I might attain unto the 
resurrection of the dead. 

12 Not as though I had already attained, 
either were already perfect : but I follow after, 
if that I may apprehend that for which also I 
am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have ap- 
prehended : but i/iis one thing / do, forgetting 
those things which are behind, and reaching 
forth unto those things which are before, 

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of 
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be 
thus minded : and if in any thing ye be other- 
wise minded, God shall reveal even this unio 
you. 

16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already at- 
tained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind 
the same thing. 

17 Brethren, be followers together of me, 
and mark them which walk so as ye have us for 
an ensample. 

18 (For many walk, of whom I have told 
you often, and now tell you even weeping, t/iat 
they are the enemies of the cross of Christ : 

19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is 
their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, 
who mind earthly things.) 

20 For our conversation is in heaven ; from 
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord 
Jesus Clirist: 

21 Who shall change our vile body, that it 
may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, 
according to the working whereby he is able 
even to subdue all things unto himself. 



In this chapter the apostle Paul relates his experience of the utter vanitj' 
of anything but Christ to save. If any one had reason to glory in the flesh 
he had (verses 4-7) ; but he saw these things were of no use (verses 8-1 1). 

Then he proceeds to lay down the true law of spiritual progress. No one 
grows who does not mean to grow. Paul made great progress ; but Paul 
had a great purpose ; mark his emphatic language : " This one thing I do." 

True Christian living is always attaining ; so that, with the apostle, the 
true Christian can say, " Not as though I had already attained ;" I have not 
subdued every faculty and every sentiment : I have not brought all my 
powers to love spontaneously and intensely the thing which is just, and true, 
and pure, and right, and noble, and best; I have not yet become such a 
Christian that I feed upon the bread of heaven ; but, " forgetting those 
things which are behind, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high 
calling of God in Christ Jesus." This is a true Christian life. 



SATURDAY. 455 

Let Paul's motto be ours, "This one thing I do." " Christ must have the 
whole heart and give the casting vote in every decision, or else we cannot 
be full-grown Christians. This is the ' one thing.' " — 7! L. Qiyler. 

Closet Promise. — My times are in Thy hand. — Psalm xxxi. 15. 



I do not ask my cross to understand, 

My way to see ; 
Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand. 

And follow Thee. 



Joy is like restless day, but peace divine 

Like quiet night ; 
Lead me, O Lord, till perfect day shall shine 

Through peace to light. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — The young lions do lack, and sufifer hunger; but 
they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. — Psalm xxxiv. lO. 

Weekly Proverb. — Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— THE ISRAELITES IN THE WILDERNESS. 

Sunday. — Last Night in Egypt. — Ex. xiii. 17-22; Ex. xiv. I-14. 

Monday. — Crossing the Red Sea. — Ex. xiv. 15-31. 

Tuesday. — The Song of Moses. — Ex. xv. 1-22. 

Wednesday. — The Bitter Waters. — Ex. xv. 23-27, 

Thirsday. — Heavenly Manna — Ex. xvi. 1-36. 

Friday. — The Smitten Rock. — Ex. xvii. 1-7. 

Saturday. — Object Lessons from a Mountain Pulpit. — Ex. xvii. 8-16. 

THREE'S COMPANY, 



Two's company, we used to say 

Before the baby came ; 
But now that he ha^ come, you know. 

Things hardly seem the same. 

And as I hold him in my arms. 
And hear him softly coo. 



I wonder how we e'er could be 
Quite satisfied with two. 

For since his coming brought such joy, 

It surely seems to me. 
Though two is called good company. 

Still better far is three, 

— Selected, 



A new heart. — Ezek. xviii. 31. 

A teacher asked a little girl in her class, " Do you think you have a new 
heart ? " " Yes, teacher ; I hope so,", replied the child, " What makes you 
hope so?" "Because I love the things which I used to hate, and hate 
what I used to love." A little boy once said, " How hard it is to do right ! " 
and so hard did. he find it, that, after awhile, he added, " It's of no use try- 
ing." But he was a boy who had learned to read and understand the Bible, 
and one day he thouglu to himself, " Why! I have been tiying to change 



456 THIRTY-FIFTH WEEK. 

myself all this time, and here I read that only God can change me. How 
foolish I have been not to ask Him ! " Dear children, only Jesus can give 
us a neiv Jieart. He can take out of us the naughty heart of sin and give us 
a clean heart. Can't you make this your prayer, which a little African girl 
offered : " Lord Jesus, my heart bad too much ; me want to love You, me 
want to serve You, but my bad heart will not let me. O Lord Jesus, me 
can't make me good. Take away this bad heart. O Lord Jesus, give me 
a new heart. O Lord Jesus, me sin every day. Pardon my sins, O dear 
Jesus; let me sin no more." 



PRIMROSE-GATHERERS. 

The humble primrose' bonny face 

I meet it everywhere ; 
Where other flowers disdain to bloom, 

It comes and nestles there. 
Like God's own light, on every place 

In glory it doth fall : 
And where its dwelling-place is made, 

It straightway hallows all ! 

The stars are sweet at eventide. 

But cold, and far away; 
The clouds are soft in summer time. 

But all unstable they : 
The rose is rich — but pride of place 

Is far too high for me — 
God's simple, common things I love — 

My primrose, such as thee ! 

I love the fireside of my home. 

Because all sympathies, 
The feelings fond of every day, 

Around its circle rise. 
And while admiring all the flowers 

That summer suns can give, 
Within my heart the primrose sweet, 

In lowly love doth rise ! 

—Robert Nicoll. 




"^'■f^M'"^ 




THIRTY-SIXTH WKKK.. 



PEARL TEXT.— He that shall humble himself shall be exalted.— Matt, xxiii. 12. 



Be wise; 
Soar not too high to fall, but stoop to rise. 



Humility is eldest-born of virtue, 
And claims the birthright at the throne of 
heaven. 

— Murphy. 



The best place to prepare for the duties of hfe, is that of Mary, at Jesus' 
feet. — Selected. 

I very often think with sweetness and longings and pantings of soul of 
being a little child, taking hold of Christ, to be led by Him through the 
wilderness of this world. — yoiiathan Edwards. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 



The King. — Psalm Ixxii. 



1 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and 
thy righteousness unto the king's son. 

2 He shall judge thy people with righteous- 
ness, and thy poor with judgment. 

3 The mountains shall bring peace to the 
people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 

4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he 
shall save the children of the needy, and shall 
break in pieces the oppressor. 

5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun and 
moon endure, throughout all generations. 

6 He shall come down like rain upon the 
mown grass : as showers that water the earth. 

7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and 
abundance of peace so long as the moon en- 
dureth. 

8 He shall have dominion also from sea to 
sea, and from the river unto the ends of the 
earth. 

9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall 
bow before him ; and his enemies shall lick the 
dust. 

10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles 
shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and 
Seba shall offer gifts. 

11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him : 
all nations shall serve him. 



12 For he shall deliver the needy when he 
crieth ; the poor also, and him that hath no 
helper. 

13 He shall spare the poor and needy, and 
shall save the souls of the needy. 

14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit 
and violence : and precious shall their blood be 
in his sight. 

15 And he shall live, and to him shall be 
given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also shall 
be made for him continually; and daily shall 
he be praised. 

16 There shall be a handful of corn in the 
earth upon the top of the mountains ; the fruit 
thereof shall shake like Lebanon : and they of 
the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 

17 His name shall endure for ever: his name* 
shall be continued as long as the sun : and 7nen 
shall be blessed in him : all nations shall call 
him blessed. 

18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Is- 
rael, who only doeth wondrous things. 

19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever : 
and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. 
Amen, and Amen. 

20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse 
are ended. 



" This Psalm was penned by a king, it is dedicated to a king, and chiefly 
intended concerning Him who is ' King of kings.* " — jFoseph Caryl. 

The subject of it is, therefore, the Redeemer of the world. His reign is 

(459) 



460 



THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



described as righteous (vers. 1-4), perpetual (vers. 5-7), universal (vers. 8- 
11), benign (vers. 12-14), and prosperous (vers. 15-17); to which are added 
a doxology (vers. 18, 19). The reader is reminded of James Montgomery's 
hymn, beginning, " Hail to the Lord's Anointed ; " it is a very beautiful 
versification of this Psalm. 

''All nations shall serve Hi?n." " Throughout all generations" shall the 
throne of the Redeemer stand. " Humanity shall not wear out the religion 
of the Incarnate God. No infidelity shall wither it away, nor superstition 
smother it ; it shall rise immortal from what seemed its grave ; as the true 
phoenix, it shall revive from its ashes ! As long as there are men on earth 
Christ shall have a throne among them. Instead of the fathers shall be 
the children. Each generation shall have a regeneration in its midst, let 
Pope and Devil do what they may." — C. H. Spurgeon. 



Closet Promise. — Trust ye in the Lord forever : 
vah is everlasting strength. — Isa. xxvi. 4. 



for in the Lord Jeho- 



God liveth ever! 

Wherefore, soul, despair thou never ! 
What though thou treadest with bleeding fe( 

A thorny path of grief and gloom. 
Thy God will choose the way most meet 

To lead thee heavenward, lead thee home. 



For this life's long night of sadness 
He will give thee peace and gladness; 
Soul, forget not in thy pains 
God o'er all forever reigns. 

— Zibn. 



MONDAY. 

All Things are Ready. — Luke xiv. 16-35. 



16 Then said he unto him, A certain man 
made a great supper, and bade many. 

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say 
to them that were bidden. Come; for all things 
are now ready. 

18 And they all with one consent began to 
make excuse. The first said unto him, I have 
bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go 
and see it : I pray thee have me excused. 

19 And another said, I have bought five yoke 
of oxen, and I go to prove them : I pray thee 
liave me excused. 

20 And another said, I have married a wife, 
and therefore I cannot come. 

21 So that servant came, and shewed his 
Lord these things. Then the master of the 
house Vjeing angry said to his servant. Go out 
quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and 
bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and 
the halt, and the blind. 

22 And the servant said. Lord, it is done as 
thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 

23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out 



into the highways and hedges, and compel thetn 
to come in, that my house may be filled. 

24 For I say unto you that none of those men 
which were bidden shall taste of my supper. 

25 \ And there went great multitudes with 
him : and he turned, and said unto them, 

26 If any vian come to me, and hate not his 
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and 
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, 
he cannot be my disciple. 

27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, 
and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 

28 For which of you, intending to build a 
tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the 
cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it ? 

29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the founda- 
tion, and is not able to finish it, all that behold 
it begin to mock him, 

30 Saying, this man began to build, and was 
not able to finish. 

31 Or what king, going to make war against 
another king, sitteth not down first, and consult- 
eth whether he be able with ten thousand to 



MONDAY. 461 



meet him that cometh against him with twenty 
thousand ? 

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way 
off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth con- 
ditions of peace. 

33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that 



forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my 
disciple. 

34 ^ Salt !s good : but if the salt have lost 
his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned ? 

35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for 
the dunghill ; dut men cast it out. He that 

I hath ears to hear let hira hear. 



This lesson concerns the Gospel Feast, from which we take a few practical 
teachings : 

1. The gospel is a feast, abundant, and perfectly satisfying to the soul. 
" The righteous eateth to the satisfying of the soul." 

2. The invitation is universal. All are invited — but the poor in spirit, 
those who find themselves crippled in their endeavors to walk uprightly, and 
those whose moral vision is not so good as their neighbors — are urged to 
come. 

3. There are no good reasons for not immediately accepting the gospel 
invitation. All the excuses of men are born of an evil heart, and are not 
really hindrances at all. 

4. All rejections of the invitation are a choice of the pleasures of this 
world as against the enjoyments of the next. It is an attempt to gain them 
at the peril of the soul. 

5. The invitation is only for the present time. The time will come when 
the Master of the house will say : " None of those men which were bidden 
shall taste of My supper." 

Closet Promise. — My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith 
the Lord. — Jer. xxxi. 14. 

Have you a want ? Keep it not ; carry it to Him : it shall lie on the 
mercy-seat to be considered. In due time shall be written on it, " To be 
provided for." — Lady Powerscotirt. 

TUESDAY. 

Samuel's Call. — i Sam. iii. 
And the child Samuel ministered unto the I 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I ; 



Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord 
was precious in those days ; there was no open 
vision. 

2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli 
was laid down in his place, and his eyes began 
to wax dim, thai he could not see; 

3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the 
temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, 
and Samuel was laid down to sleep ; 

4 That the Lord called Samuel : and he an- 
swered, Here am I. 



for thou calledst me. And he said, I called 
not : lie down again. And he went and lay 
down. 

6 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. 
And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, 
Here am I ; for thou didst call me. And he 
answered, I called not, my son; lie down 
again. 

7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, 
neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed 
unto him. 



462 



THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



8 And the Lord called Samuel again the 
third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and 
said, Here ani I ; for thou didst call me. And 
Eli perceived that the Lord had called the 
child. 

9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie 
down : and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou 
shalt say, Speak, Lord ; for thy servant heareth. 
So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

10 And the Lord came, and stood, and 
called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then 
Samuel answered, Speak ; for thy servant 
heareth. 

1 1 \ And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, 
I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the 
ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 

12 In that day I will perform against Eli all 
things which I have spoken concerning his 
house : when I begin, I will also make an end. 

13 For I have told him that I will judge his 
house for ever for the iniquity which he know- 
eth ; because his sons made themselves vile, 
and he restrained them not. 

14 And therefore I have sworn unto the 
house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house 



shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering 
for ever. 

15 \ And Samuel lay until the morning, and 
opened the doors of the house of the Lord. 
And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. 

16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, 
my son. And he answered, Here a7!i I. 

'17 And he said, What is the thing that M^ 
Zo^ZJhath said unto thee? I pray thee hide 
// not from me : God do so to thee, and more 
also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the 
things that he said unto thee. 

18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid 
nothing from him. And he said. It is the 
Lord : let him do what seemeth him good. 

19 ^And Samuel grew, and the Lord was 
with him, and did let none of his words fall to 
the ground. 

20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beer- 
sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a 
prophet of the Lord. 

21 And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh : 
for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in 
Shiloh by the word of the Lord. 



" Of Bible boys Samuel is a chief favorite. The reason is that nothing 
under the sun is more beautiful than piety in childhood. Nothing like 
grace for making the young graceful. Martin Luther in his gentler mo- 
ments dwelt with great tenderness on the boyhood of Samuel. He found 
in him what he longed to see in his own boys and in all boys. When God 
called ' Samuel, Samuel,' he answered at once, ' Speak, Lord ; for thy ser- 
vant heareth.' There we have, as in a nutshell, the history of a child of 
God."— y. Wells. 

Life is full of the calls of God. The mode of the call may be various, 
and the manner in which the call may be received may be various also. We 
are all taught to expect to be called of God. None are too poor, too 
humble, too little gifted ; all are to be fellow-workers with God. How, then, 
do we respond to God's call ? Is not Samuel's answer, " Speak,- Lord ; for Thy 
servant heareth," in its childlike simplicity, faith and submissiveness, a most 
beautiful and perfect type of what our answer should be ? Even the 
maturest and most saintly cannot transcend this response of the temple- 
child. 

Closet Promise. — And He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth 
them out. — John x. 3. 



And what can fill us with a loftier inspiration, or lift us with a more sub- 
lime and blessed confidence than this — the fact that Christ, the Eternal 
Shepherd, has a personal recognition of us, leading us on by name and 



TUESDAY. 



463 



calling us to follow ? No matter whether He call us into ways of gain or 
of suffering, of honor or of scorn, it is all one with such a leader before us. 
Nay, if we go down to sound the depths of sorrow and ennoble the pains 
of sacrifice and perfume the grave of ignominy, what are these but a more 
inspiring and more godlike call, since He is now our leader even there? — 
Horace Bushjiell. 



WEDNESDAY. 

Faith and Confession. — Rom. x. 1-13. 



1 brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to 
God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 

2 For I bear them record that ihey have a 
zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 

3 For they, being ignorant of God's right- 
eousness, and going about to establish their own 
righteousness, have not submitted themselves 
unto the righteousness of God. 

4 For Christ is the end of the law for right- 
eousness to every one that believeth. 

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness 
which is of the law. That the man which doeth 
those things shall live by them. 

6 But the righteousness which is of faith 
speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart. 
Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to 
bring Christ dow/n from above :) 

7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep ? 



(that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 

8 But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, 
e7Jen in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, 
the word of faith, which we preach ; 

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth 
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart 
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou 
shalt be saved. 

10 For with the heart man believeth unto 
righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is 
made unto salvation. 

11 For the Scripture saith. Whosoever be- 
lieveth on him shall not be ashamed. 

12 For there is no difference between the 
Jew and the Greek ; for the same Lord over all 
is rich unto all that call upon him. 

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name 
of the Lord shall be saved. 



We read, in verse 8, that the word is nigh us, namely, that it is declared 
to us ; that we have it in the heart — where the Holy Spirit has impressed it, 
and in the mouth, by which we declare it. 

" The mouth and the heart cannot be separated." — Cramer. 

" The heart without the mouth is timidity ; the mouth without the heart 
is hypocrisy." — Hedinger. 

Living preaching is God's chosen means of instruction (verse 14). 

" It is the first and most pressing duty of the Church to cause all men 
to hear the gospel. The solemn question, ' How can they believe without a 
preacher ? ' should sound day and night in the ears of the churches. The 
gospel's want of success, or the fact that few believe our report, is only a 
reason for its wider extension. The more who hear, the more will be saved, 
even should it be but a small proportion of the whole." — Hodge. 

" Let us rejoice in the spread which the gospel has already had, and let 
us earnestly and daily pray that the voices of those Divine messengers that 
proclaim it may go forth unto all the earth, and their words reach, in a 
literal sense, to the remotest ends of the globe. Lord, give us any plague 
rather than the plague of the heart." — Doddridge. 



464 THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 

Closet Promise.— I am the way, the truth, and the life. — John xiv. 6. 



He is a path, if any be misled ; 

He is a robe, if any naked be ; 

If any chance to hunger, he is bread ; 

If any be a bondman, he is free ; 

If any be but weak, how strong is He i 



To dead men life He is, to sick men health, 
To bhnd men sight, and to the needy wealth — 
A pleasure without loss, a treasure without 
stealth. —Giles Fletcher. 



THURSDAY. 

The Promises of the Gospel to the Penitent. — Jer. iii. 12-19. 



12 ^ Go and proclaim these words toward 
the north, and say. Return, thou backsliding 
Israel, saith the Lord ; and I will not cause 
mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, 
saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for 
ever. 

13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that 
thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy 
God, and hast scattered thy ways to the 
strangers under every green tree, and ye have 
not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. 

14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the 
Lord ; for I am married unto you : and I will 
take you one of a city, and two of a family, and 
I will bring you to Zion : 

15 And I will give you pastors according to 
mine heart, which shall feed you with knowl- 
edge and understanding. 

16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be 
.multiplied and increased in the land, in those 



days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, 
The ark of the covenant of the Lord : neither 
shall it come to mind : neither shall they re- 
member it; neither shall they visit z// neither 
shall that be done any more. 

17 At thai time they shall call Jerusalem the 
throne of the Lord ; and all the nations shall be 
gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to 
Jerusalem : neither shall they walk any more 
after the imagination of their evil heart. 

18 In those days the house of Judah shall 
walk with the house of Israel, and they shall 
come together out of the land of the north to 
the land that I have given for an inheritance 
unto your fathers. 

19 But I said, How shall I put thee among 
the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a 
goodly heritage of the hosts of nations ? and I 
said, Thou shalt call me. My father ; and shalt 
not turn away from me. 



God pities the backslider, just as the general on the field of battle pities 
the wounded who are carried bleeding by their comrades to the rear. He 
says: "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, 
thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord : and I will not cause mine anger to 
fall upon you ; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger 
for ever." 

" I know of a father, who, after his son came back the fourth time, said, 
' No ! I forgave you three times, but I will never forgive you again.' And 
the son went off and died. But God takes back His children the thousandth 
time as cheerfully as the first. As easily as with my handkerchief I strike 
the dust off this book, God will wipe out all our sins. Oh, this mercy of 
God ! "— r. De Witt Talmage, D. D. 

" You cannot believe too much in God's mercy. You cannot expect too 
much at His hands. He is ' able to do exceeding abundantly above all that 
we ask or think.' No sin is so great but that, coming straight from it, a 
repentant sinner may hope and believe that all God's love will be lavished 
upon him, and the richest of God's gifts granted to his desires." — Maclaren. 



THURSDAY. 



465 



Closet Promise. — The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to 
the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and 
quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. — Lam. iii. 25. 



I'll take my cross and bear it ever, 

For Jesus, day by day ; 
He'll give me grace to bear it bravely, 

He'll help me watch and pray. 

I'll take my cross and bear it ever. 
The cross for me He bore ; 



Soon glory-crowned I'll reign in heaven 
With him for ever more. 

' No cross, no crown ! " Then welcome ever 
The cross He bids me take ; 
I'll bravely bear, and murmur never. 
The cross for Jesus' sake ! 

—Mrs. C. M. S. Burr. 



FRIDAY. 

Saul's Conversion. — Acts ix. 1-22. 



1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings 
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, 
went unto the high priest, 

2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to 
the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, 
whether they were men or women, he might 
bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 

3 And as he journeyed, he came near Da- 
mascus : and suddenly there shined round about 
him a light from heaven : 

4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice 
saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest 
thou me ? 

5 And he said. Who art thou. Lord? And 
the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecut- 
est : it is hard for thee to kick against the 
pricks. 

6 And he trembling and astonished said, 
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? And the 
Lord said\in\.o him. Arise, and go into the city, 
and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 

7 And the men which journeyed with him 
stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no 
man. 

8 And Saul arose from the earth ; and when 
his eyes were opened, he saw no man : but they 
led him by the hand, and brought hint into Da- 
mascus. 

9 And he was three days without sight, and 
neither did eat nor drink. 

ID And there was a certain disciple at Da- 
mascus, named Ananias; and to him said the 
Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Be- 
hold, I am here. Lord. 

H And the Lord said unto him, .^rise, and 
go into the street which is called Straight, and 
inquire in the house of Judas for one called 
Saul, of Tarsus : for, behold, he prayeth. 



12 And hath seen in a vision a man named 
Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on 
him, that he might receive his sight. 

13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have 
heard by many of this man, how much evil he 
hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem : 

14 And here he hath authority from the chief 
priests to bind all that call on thy name. 

15 But the Lord said unto him. Go thy • way : 
for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my 
name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the 
children of Israel : 

16 For I will shew him how great things he 
must suffer for my name's sake. 

17 And Ananias \y^w\. his way, and entered 
into the house ; and putting his hands on him 
said. Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that 
appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, 
hath sent me, that thou mightest i-eceive thy 
sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 

iS And immediately there fell from his eyes 
as it had been scales: and he received sight 
forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 

19 And when he had received meat, he was 
strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with 
the disciples which were at Damascus. 

20 And straightway he preached Christ in the 
synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 

21 But all that heard him were amazed, and 
said; Is not this he that destroyed them which 
called on this name in Jerusalem, and came 
hither for that intent, that he might bring them 
bound unto the chief priests? 

22 But Saul increased the more in strength, 
and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Da- 
mascus, proving that this is very Christ. 



The conversion of a sinner from the error of his way is one of the noblest 
works of God ; and perhaps in the conversion of no individual have those 



466 THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 

attributes been more fully manifested than in the conversion of Saul of 
Tarsus. Notice : 

1. Tlie super natiiral ilbanination he experienced. "A light from heaven," 
"A great light above the greatness of the sun " (Acts xxii. 6), shone around 
and upon him. It was the appearance of Christ himself (i Cor. xv. 8). Now 
true conversion in every man commences something in the same way. 
Though not attended with any vision to the bodily senses, yet it must be 
" light from heaven " — a Divine illumination. 

2. The prostration of soul he manifested. "Saul fell to the earth." And 
thus the Holy Ghost deals with sinners in their conversion. He not only 
enlightens, but humbles them. 

3. Tlie strong emotions he felt. " He trembled and was astonished." And 
to this state God brings every convinced sinner. As he thinks of the justice 
and holiness of God, he trembles. As he thinks of the long-suffering of 
God towards him, he is astonished. 

4. The sincere prayer he offered. " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " 
This is the true feeling of a sincere convert. 

5. Tlie devotion he displayed. " He arose from the earth." So far he was 
passive, now he becomes active. Sin is given up in every true conversion, 
and communion with God becomes the convert's daily delight. 

" When the word came to Ananias he at first hesitated because of the 
notorious character of Saul ; but, yielding, he went his way, and entered the 
house of Judas. Little is recorded of the interview, but we can imagine the 
feelings of both. The first word of the disciple opens wide the door of 
Christian fellowship — 'Brother Saul ! ' It was a new word and a new 
thought. There was no brotherhood in Pharisaism. Through the instru- 
mentality of this divinely-appointed messenger the scales fell from the eyes 
of the praying penitent, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit." — R. R. 
Meredith, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — As for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee 
so to do. — Deut. xviii. 14. 

We give thanks often with a tearful, doubtful voice, for our spiritual 
rnQvcxes positive ; but what an almost infinite field there is for mercies nega- 
tive ! We cannot even imagine all that God has suffered us not to do, not 
to be. — F. R Havergal. 



SATURDAY. 



467 



SATURDAY. 

Praise. — Psalm cxxxv. 



1 1 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king 
of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan : 

12 And gave their land for a heritage, a 
heritage unto Israel his people. 

13 Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever; 
and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all 
generations. 

14 For the Lord will judge his people, and 
he will repent himself concerning his servants. 

15 The idols of the heathen are silver and 
gold, the work of men's hands. 

16 They have mouths, but they speak not; 
eyes have they, but ihey see not; 

17 They have ears, but they hear not ; neither 
is there any breath in their mouths. 

18 They that make them are like unto them : 
so is every one that trusteth in them. 

19 Bless the Lord, O house of Israel : bless 
the Lord, O house of Aaron : 

20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi : ye that 
fear the Lord, bless the Lord. 

21 Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which 
dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord. 



1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name 
of the Lord ; praise him., O ye servants of the 
Lord. 

2 Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in 
the courts of the house of our God, 

3 Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good : 
sing praises unto his name ; for it is pleasant. 

4 For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto him- 
self, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. 

5 For I know that the Lord is great, and 
t/iat our Lord is above all gods. 

6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, i/iai did he 
in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all 
deep places. 

7 He causeth the vapours to ascend from the 
ends of the earth ; he maketh lightnings for 
the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his 
treasuries. 

8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of 
man and beast. 

9 tVAo sent tokens and wonders into the 
midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and 
upon all his servants. 

ID Who smote great nations, and slew mighty 
kings ; 

" Here we see the servant of the Lord arousing his fellow-servants by 
three times calling upon them to praise. Are we, then, so slow in such a 
sweet company ? Or is it that when we do our utmost it is all too little for 
such a Lord ? Both are true. We do not praise enough ; we cannot praise 
too much. We ought to be always at it, answering to the command here 
given — Praise, Praise, Praise. Let the Three-in-one have the praises of our 
spirit, soul and body. For the past, the present and the future let us render 
three-fold hallelujahs." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

As Gotthold was one day passing a tradesman's home he heard the notes 
of a psalm, with which the family were concluding their morning meal. He 
was deeply affected, and, with a full heart, said to himself: O my God, how 
pleasing to my ears is the sound of Thy praise, and how comforting to my 
soul the thought that there are still a few who bless Thee for Thy goodness. 
Alas ! the great bulk of mankind have become brutalized and resemble the 
swine, which in harvest gather and fatten upon the acorns beneath the oak, 
but show to the tree, which bore them, no other thanks than rubbing off its 
bark and tearing up the sod around it. 

Closet Promise. — I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for- 
ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth 
it that men should fear before Him. — Eccles. iii. 14. 



468 



THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



Do what Thou wilt ! yes, only do 
What seemeth good to Thee; 

Thou art so loving, wise and true, 
It must be best for me. 

Send what Thou wilt ; or beating shower, 
Soft dew, or brilliant sun : 



Alike in still or stormy hour, 
My Lord, Thy will be done. 

Take what Thou wilt, beloved Lord, 

For I have all in Thee ! 
My own exceeding great reward, 

Thou, Thou Thyself shalt be. 

— F. R. Havergal. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER, 

Breakfast Motto. — Eat thy bread with joy. — Eccl. ix. 7. 
Weekly Proverb. — Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and 
not what you please. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— THE ISRAELITES IN THE WILDERNESS. 

Sunday. — A Wise Father-in-law. — Ex. xviii. 1-27. 

Monday. — God's Presence on Mt. Sinai. — Ex. xix. 1-25, 

Tuesday. — The Ten Commandments. — Ex. xx. 1-26. 

Wednesday. — The Uplifted Serpent. — Num. xxi. 1-9. 

Thursday. — The Song of Moses. — Deut. xxxii. 1-43. 

Friday. — The Blessings of the Twelve Tribes. — Deut. xxxiii. I-29. 

Saturday. — Visions from Pisgah. — Deut. xxxiv. 1-12. 



THE BEST THAT I CAN. 



" I cannot do much," said a little star, 
" To make the dark world bright ! 

My silvery beams cannot struggle far 
Through the folding gloom of night ! 

But I'm only a part of God's great plan, 

And I'll cheerfully do the best that I can.' 

"What's the use," said a fleecy cloud, 
"Of those few drops that I hold? 

They will hardly bend the lily proud, 
Though caught in her cup of gold ! 

Yet I'm a part of God's great plan. 

So my treasures I'll give as well as I can. 

A child went merrily forth to play. 
But a thought like a silver thread 

Kept winding in and out all day 
Through the happy golden head ; 



Mother said ; " Darling, do all you can, 
For you are a part of God's great plan ! " 

She knew no more than the glancing star. 
Nor the cloud with its chalice full ! 

How, why, and for what all things were — ■ 
She was only a child at school ! 

But thought : " It's a part of God's great plar 

That even I should do all that I can ! " 

So she helped a younger child along, 
When the road was rough to her feet, 

And she sang from her heart a little song, 
That we all thought passing sweet; 

And her father, a weary, toil-worn man, 

Said : " I, too, will do the best that I can." 
—Selected. 



Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. — Matt. xxvi. 41. 

Little Henry was slowly recovering, and just able to be about the room, 
when his sister came in eating a piece of cake. Henry's mother had told 
him that it would not be safe for him to have what the other children did 
till he was stronger. His appetite was coming back : the cake looked in- 
viting. " Jennie," .said he, " you must run right out of the room away from 



THE CHILDRENS CORNER. 469 

me with that cake ; and Fll keep my eyes shut while you go, so that I 
sha'n't want it." That is the way to resist temptation : just shut your eyes 
and turn away from it. The reason why so many people do wrong is be- 
cause they go where temptation is. They go among bad people or into bad 
places on purpose, Then the devil overcomes them. Now, we must 
" watch," that is, look out. Then we must " pray," that is, tell Jesus and ask 
Him to help us. I know a little boy who prayed : " O Jesus, I am going to 
school to-day ; the boys are rough ; they say bad words, and do naughty 
and wicked things ; they cheat the teacher. Dear Jesus, keep me from be- 
ing like them. Amen." That boy carried it all to Jesus, and the dear Lord 
gave him strength to resist temptation. 



THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK, 



PEARL TEXT.— Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright : for the end of that 
man is peace. — Psalm xxxvii. 37. 



Life ! we've been long together, 
Through pleasant and through cloudy weather. 
'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; 
Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear ; 



Then steal away, give little warning; 

Choose thine own time ; 
Say not good-night, but in some brighter clime 

Bid me good-morning. — Selected. 



Wordsworth said he wished he had written those lines. 
Death has lost its sting ; and, I thank God, I know not what Jiiirry of 
spirit is, or unbelieving fears. — Fletcher. 



Are you looking for His coming 

Some day ? 
Are you ready for His coming 

Any way ? 
Should He come next night or morn, 
Should He tarry, or come soon. 

Are you ready ? 



Sudden as lightning flash He'll come 

Some day. 
To take His white-robed bride 

Away — 
Robed, and ready for her Lord, 
She will be by Him adored; 

Oh, be ready ! 

— Rev. John Parker. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR, 



SUNDAY. 

' The Armor of Light." — Rom. xiii. 



1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher 
powers. For there is no power but of God : the 
powers that be are ordained of God. 

2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, 
resisteth the ordinance of God : and they that 
resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 

3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, 
but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid 
of the power ? do that which is good, and thou 
shall have praise of the same : 

4 For he is the minister of God to thee for 
good. But if thou do that which is evil, be 
afraid : for he beareth not the sword in vain : for 
he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute 
wrath upon him that doeth evil. 

5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not 
only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. 

6 For, for this cause pay ye tribute also : for 
they are God's ministers, attending continually 
upon this very thing. 

7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute 
to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom cus- 
tom ; fear to whom fear ; honour to whom 
honour. 



8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one 
another : for he that lovet^ another hath fulfilled 
the law. 

9 For this, Thou shall not commit adultery. 
Thou shall not kill. Thou .shall not steal. Thou 
shall not bear false witness. Thou shall not 
covet ; and if there be any other commandment, 
it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, 
Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. 

ID Love workelh no ill to his neighbour : 
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 

1 1 And that, knowing the time, that now it is 
high time to awake out of sleep : for now is our 
salvation nearer than when we believed. 

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand : 
let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, 
and let us put on the armour of light. 

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day ; not 
in rioting and in drunkenness, not in cham- 
bering and wantonness, not in strife and envy- 
ing : 

14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the 
lusts thereof. 



The keynote of thi 
(470) 



chapter is : To every one his due ! The Christian's 



SUNDAY. 



471 



royal motto: i. In reference to his relation to the civil authority (vers. 1-6); 
2. In his intercourse with every man (vers. 7-14). 

In ver. 14 we have the grand summary. "All Christian duty is included 
in putting on the Lord Jesus; in being like Him, having that similarity of 
temper and conduct which results from being intimately united to Him by 
the Holy Spirit." — Hodge. 

" Put on the armor of light " — the evidence of our loyalty to Christ. 

" Look into Christ's wardrobe, and you will find no torn or ragged ap- 
parel ; Christ had the robe of righteousness, the garment of innocency, the 
spotless coat of temperance and chastity, and with these he went about 
doing good. Out of this wardrobe we must make up our wedding garment. 
We must be conformable to Christ." — Farindoii. 

The call of Christianity is a call to awake from spiritual sleep (verses 1 1- 
14). The reason given is, it is almost morning. Yield yourselves with glad 
consent to this greatest motive — the end is near — near His coming, near our 
final home. 

Closet Promise. — For it is God which worketh in you both to will and 
to do of His good pleasure. — Phil. ii. 13. 



Fall warm, fall fast, thou mellow rain ! 

Thou rain of God, make fat the land ; 

That roots which parch in burning sand 
May bud to flower and fruit again. 



Failure ? — while tide-floods rise and boil 
Round cape and isle, in port and cove. 
Resistless, star-led from above: 

What though one tiny wave recoil ? 

— Charles Kings ley. 



MONDAY. 

Ebenezer.— I Sam. vii. 3-14. 



3 1[ And Samuel spake unto all the house of 
Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord 
with all your hearts, then put away the strange 
gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and pre- 
pare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him 
only: and he will deliver you out of the hand 
of the Philistines. 

4 Then the children of Israel did put away 
Baalam and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord 
only. 

5 And Samuel sud, Gather all Israel to 
Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto tlie 
Lord. 

6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, 
and drew water, and poured it out before the 
Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, 
We have sinned against the Lord. And 
Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. 

7 And when the Philistines heard that the 
children of Israel were gathered together to 



Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up 
against Israel. And when the children of 
Israel heard if, they were afi'aid of the Philis- 
tines. 

8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, 
Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, 
that he will save us out of the hand of the Phil- 
istines. 

9 T[ And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and 
offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the 
Lord : and Samuel cried unto the Lord for 
Israel; and the Lord heard him. 

10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt 
offering, the Philistines drew near to battle 
against Israel : but the Lord thundered with a 
great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, 
and discomfited them ; and they were smitten 
before Israel. 

1 1 And the men of Israel went out of Miz- 



472 THIRTY-SBVENTH WEEK 



peh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote 
them, until they came under Beth-car. 

12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it be- 
tween Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name 
of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord 
hepled us. 

13 T[ So the Philistines were subdued, and 
they came no more into the coast of Israel : and 



the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines 
all the days of Samuel. 

14 And the cities which the Philistines had 
taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from 
Ekron even unto Gath ; and the coasts thereof 
did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Phihs- 
tines. And there was peace between Israel and 
the Amorites. 



" The coming on of a great trouble or grief; the hours of anguish, which 
we may or may not confide to another ; those habitual troubles which weigh 
down life with a perpetual gravitation ; and, on the other hand, the rolling 
away of grief; the glad morning after the night ; the dawn of great affections 
in the soul — which are the best blessings that God ever gives, and are to us 
what the coming of the morning sun is to the day ; the emerging into the 
light of a new faith ; victories over easily besetting sins ; the conquest over 
inbred sins ; clearer views ; stronger impulses of conscience ; a new sense of 
manhood infused into our souls ; a more heroic impulse taking the place of 
a craven or mere physical habitude of obedience — all these critical, inward 
experiences are worthy of some external recognition. We should specialize 
them. We should think of them in their individuality and in their se- 
quences ; and it would be well for us if we could set up some memorial, and 
be able to bear witness to one another, saying, ' Hitherto the Lord hath 
helped us.' " — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — Thou art My servant ; I have formed thee ; thou art 
My servant; O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. — Isa. xliv. 21. 



Oh, give Thy servant patience to be still, 

And bear Thy will ; 
Courage to venture wholly on the arm 

That will not harm ; 



The wisdom that will never let me stray 

Out of my way ; 
The love, that, now afflicting, knoweth best 

When I should rest. 

— /. M. Neale. 



Accept His will entirely, and never suppose that you could serve Him 
better in any other way. You can never serve Him well, save in the way 
He chooses. Supposing that you were never to be set free from such trials, 
what would you do ? You would say to God, " I am Thine — if my trials 
are acceptable to Thee, give me more and more." I have full confidence 
that this is what you would say, and then you would not think more of it — 
at any rate, you would not be anxious. Well, do the same now. Make 
friends with your trials, as though you were always to live together ; and 
you will see that when you cease to take thought for your own deliverance, 
God will take thought for you ; and when you cease to help yourself 
eagerly, He will help yov\. — Francis de Sales. 



THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



473 



TUESDAY. 

An Eventide Psalm. — Psalm viii. 



1 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy 
name in all the earth ! who hast set thy glory 
above the heavens. 

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings 
hast thou ordained strength because of thine 
enemies, that -thou mightest still the enemy and 
ihe avenger. 

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of 
thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou 
hast ordained ; 

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? 
and the son of man, that thou visitest him ? 

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than 



the angels, and hast crowned him with glory 
and honour. 

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over 
the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all i/iiu^s 
under his feet : 

7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of 
the field : 

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, 
atid whatsoever passeth through the paths of the 
seas. 

9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy 
name in all the earth ! 



Christ is the principal subject of this Psalm, and it is interpreted of Him, 
both by our Lord himself (Matt. xxi. i6), and by His holy apostle (i Cor. 
XV. 27 ; Heb. ii. 6, 7). 

" The special excellence of the Divine nature celebrated in this Psalm is 
the implanting of strength in that which is apparently weak. The grand 
instance of this, and the only one here noticed, is man, both in his infancy 
and his maturity." — J. G. Mvrpliy. 

This excellence of God's name particularly appears in three things : 1. 
In infants. " He who delights in the songs of angels is pleased to honor 
Himself in the eyes of His enemies by the praises of little children." 2. In 
the heavens, with the moon and stars. All these have been ordained by the 
all-wise God ; and the earth and its inhabitants are receiving continual bene- 
fits from them. 3. In man himself. " The dominion that God has bestowed 
on man is a great glory and honor to him ; for all dominion is honor, and 
the highest is that which wears the crown." 

Closet Promise. — Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 

— Luke xii. 7. 

We all need in this scene of conflict to give heed to the following words 
from the pen of Walter J. Mathams : 



Cast all thy care on God, 

Nor deem thou doest wrong ; 

With ease He'll bear the largest load. 
For He is very strong. 

What makes thy spirit bend. 

He will not feel at all ; 
The mighty universe itself 

To Him is very small. 



' Then be thou wise at once, 
Come in thy need to Him ; 
Why shouldst thou bear the cross alone. 
Which wearies every limb ? 

' If thou shouldst longer stay, 

'Twill grow in size and weight 
Until it crush thee in the dust 
And make thee wise too late. 



474 



THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



" Be this thy heart's true creed ; 
God knows thy every care, 



And only waits thy willingness 
Thee and thy cross to bear." 



WEDNESDAY. 

Only Believe. — Matt. ix. i-8; 18-31 



1 And he entered into a ship, and passed 
over, and came into his own city. 

2 And, behold, they brought to him a man 
sick of the palsy, lying on a bed ; and Jesus seeing 
their faith said unto the sick of the palsy ; Son, 
be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee. 

3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said 
within themselves. This man blasphemeth. 

4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, 
Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? 

5 For whether is easier, to say, 1 hy sins be 
forgiven thee ; or to say. Arise and walk ? 

6 But that ye may known that the Son of man 
hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith 
he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy 
bed, and go unto thine house. 

7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 

8 But when the multitudes saw it, they mar- 
velled, and glorified God, which had given 
such power unto men. 



18 \ While he spake these things unto them, 
behold, there came a certain ruler, and wor- 
shipped him, saying, My daughter is even 
now dead : but come and lay thy hand upon her, 
and she shall live. 

19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and 
so did his disciples. 

20 ^And, behold, a woman which was 
diseased with an issue of blood twelve years. 



came behind him, and touched the hem of his 
garment : 

21 For she .said within herself, If I may but 
touch his garment, I shall be whole. 

22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he 
saw her, he said. Daughter, be of good comfort ; 
thy faith hath made thee whole, and the wo- 
man was made whole from that hour. 

23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's 
house, and saw the minstrels and the people 
making a noise, 

24 He said unto them. Give place : for the 
maid is not dead, but sleepelh. And they 
laughed him to scorn. 

25' But when the people were put forth, he 
went in, and took her by the hand, and the 
maid arose. 

26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all , 
that land. 

27 \ And when Jesus departed thence, two 
blind men followed him, crying, and saying. 
Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 

28 And when he was come into the house, 
the blind men came to him : and Jesus saith 
unto them. Believe ye that I am able to do 
this ? They said unto him. Yea, Lord. 

29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, Ac- 
cording to your faith be it unto you. 

30 And their eyes were opened, and Jesus 
straitly charged them, saying. See that no 
man know it. 

31 But they, when they were departed, 
spread abroad his fame in all that country. 



The power, glory and rewards of faith form the theme of this chapter. 

In the story of the poor paralytic, his friends not only believed abstractly 
in Christ's power ; they brought their sick neighbor where He was. It was 
not an experiment with them, but the faith of confident expectation. 

The act of the woman with the " bloody issue " was an expression of her 
faith. Of all those pressing on Jesus, hers was the touch of faith. " There 
may be much earthly rubbish in the soul that comes to Christ; but if there 
be in it one gleaming grain of the gold of faith, Christ will receive that soul 
with all its rubbish ; for He knows well that in due time all that is worthless 
will drop away, that the eye of faith will sweep over a vaster horizon of 
truth from day to day, until we shall be light in the Lord, and shall not 
walk in darkness." — E. Mellor, D.D. 
. In the case of the healing of Jairus' daughter, in Mark's gospel we read 



WEDNESDAY. 



475 



that Jesus said to the father, "Be not afraid, only beheve." If Jesus speak 
the assuring word, fears may well be dismissed; but no other word of prom- 
ise can suffice. 

In the case of the two blind men, the promise was, "According to your 
faith be it unto you." " Faith is the bucket by means of which a man may 
draw water out of the wells of salvation, and drink to his heart's content." 

Closet Promise. — For a little space. — Ezra ix. 8. 



Behold the house 
Is dark, but there is brightness where the sons 
Of God are singing; and behold, the heart 
Is troubled, yet the nations walk in white: 
They have forgotten how to weep ; and thou 
Shalt also come, and I will foster thee 



And satisfy thy soul ; and thou shalt warm 
Thy trembling life beneath the smile of God. 
A little while— il is a little while — 
A little while, and I will comfort thee. 

— Jean Iitgelow. 



THURSDAY. 

The Rod of Jesse. — Isa. xi. 1-9. 



1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the 
stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of 
his roots : 

2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon 
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of 
knowledge and of the fear of ihe LoRD; 

3 And shall make him of quick understand- 
ing in the fear of the Lord : and he shall not 
judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove 
after the hearing of his ears : 

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the 
poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of 
the earth : and he shall smite the earth with the 
rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his 
lips shall he slay the wicked. 



5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his 
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the larfib, 
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; 
and the calf and the young lion and the fatling 
together; and a little child shall lead them. 

7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their 
young ones shall lie down together: and the 
lion shall eat straw like the ox. 

8 And the sucking child shall play on the 
hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put 
his hand on the cockatrice' den. 

9 They sliall not hurt nor destroy in all my 
holy mountain : for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
sea. 



That this chapter refers to the times of the Messiah there can be no ques- 
tion. It is also evident that the time here spoken of has not yet fully come, 
and the mind is still directed onward, as was that of the prophet, to a future 
period when this shall be accomplished. 

The prophecy has been, indeed, in part fulfilled. Wherever the gospel 
has spread, its effect has been just that which is predicted here. It has 
calmed and subdued the angry passions of men ; it has mitigated laws that 
were cruel and bloody ; it has produced mildness and love in the domestic 
circle ; and wherever it has spread ifi truth and not ifi form merely, it has 
shed a mild, calming and subduing influence over the passions, laws and 
customs of men. 

And Christ's kingdom is going forward from age to age. All the might 
of the world is now on the side of Christianity. Yes, Christ is a light to 



476 



THIRTY SEVENTH WEEK. 



lighten the Gentiles; and the glory of the upper heavens shall yet scatter 
and chase away the darkness which still broods sullenly over the earth, and 
new, Divine life, long repressed, shall yet reveal itself in fair and wonderful 
and lavish fertility ; the very deserts of the world shall be covered with a 
moral wealth and beauty, of which the brightest spring time and the richest 
autumn are poor and pale symbols, and of which the loveliness of Paradise 
was only a dim and imperfect promise. 

Closet Promise. — Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Right- 
eousness arise with healing- in His wing's. — Mai. iv. 2. 



My mind was full of troubles wild, 

And all my heart was filled with sorrow, 

When, by my side, a liltle child 

Pointed toward the sky and smiled, 

And said, " The sun will shine to-morrow." 

Out in the paling golden West 

The rosy clouds were slowly fading, 
And softly, in her hidden nest, 
The mother-bird, beneath her breast, 
Her callow young from ill was shading. 

I looked, and all my pain had flown ; 

Would He, who e'en takes thought of spar- 
rows, 
Give me, instead of bread, a stone ? 



Or never heed my weary moan ? 

Or pierce my soul with many arrows ? 

Ah, no ! I felt that could not be ; 

He would not leave my soul in' sorrow. 
But though the present dark may be, 
And filled with fear and misery. 

He'll send the sunshine on the morrow. 

O, weary souls ! however black 

Your lives may be, this comfort borrow ; 
Look ever forward, look not back. 
But keep upon the homeward track, 
And look for sunshine on the morrow. 

— Edith Helena Cooke. 



FRIDAY. 



"One Another." 

16 Confess your faults one to another, and 
pray one for another, that ye may be healed. 
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man 
availeth much. 

17 Elias was a man subject to like passions 
as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might 
not rain : and it rained not on the earth by the 
space of three years and six months. 



16-20. 



18 And he prayed again, and the heaven 
gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 

19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the 
truth, and one convert him ; 

20 Let him know, that he which converteth 
the sinner from the error of his way shall save 
a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of 
sins. 



Confess your faults one to another (verse 16). 

"As long as you make your faults a bulwark to .stand behind and fight 
me, so long I am your enemy and you are my foe. ... It is not the offence, 
but the defence of the offence that makes it hard for us to bear with one 
another. A man may say to me, ' You are a vile sinner ; ' he may rain his 
words on me like blows, but if he comes back when his passion has gone 
down with tears in his eyes, and says, ' Oh, forgive me ; I did not mean it,' 
it is all gone, quicker than a flash of lightning.. I love him all the more. 
The fault is not hard to bear. It is the defending the fault — it is the refusing 
to make up under fault — that rankles and makes us ugly in return. Where 



-^ 



^ 



MONDAY. 461 



meet him that cometh against him with twenty 
thousand ? 

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way 
off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth con- 
ditions of peace. 

33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that 



forsaketh not all tliat he hath, he cannot be my 
disciple. 

34 ^ Salt !s good : but if the salt have lost 
his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned ? 

35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for 
the dunghill ; dui men cast it out. He that 
hath ears to hear, let him hear. 



This lesson concerns the Gospel Feast, from which we take a few practical 
teachings : 

1. The gospel is a feast, abundant, and perfectly satisfying to the soul. 
" The righteous eateth to the satisfying of the soul." 

2. The invitation is universal. All are invited — but the poor in spirit, 
those who find themselves crippled in their endeavors to walk uprightly, and 
those whose moral vision is not so good as their neighbors — are urged to 
come. 

3. There are no good reasons for not immediately accepting the gospel 
invitation. All the excuses of men are born of an evil heart, and are not 
really hindrances at all. 

4. All rejections of the invitation are a choice of the pleasures of this 
world as against the enjoyments of the next. It is an attempt to gain them 
at the peril of the soul. 

5. The invitation is only for the present time. The time will come when 
the Master of the house will say : " None of those men which were bidden 
shall taste of My supper." 

Closet Promise. — My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith 
the Lord. — Jer. xxxi. 14. 

Have you a want ? Keep it not ; carry it to Him : it shall lie on the 
mercy-seat to be considered. In due time shall be written on it, " To be 
provided for." — Lady Powerscourt. 

TUESDAY. 

Samuel's Call. — i Sam. iii. 

1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the I 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I ; 
Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord for thou calledst me. And he said, I called 
was precious in those days ; there 'was no open not : lie down again. And he went and lay 
vision. down. 

2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli 6 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. 
was laid down in his place, and his eyes began And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, 
to wax dim, /hatht could not see; Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he 

3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the answered, I called not, my son; lie down 
temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, again. 

and Samuel was laid down io sleep; 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, 

4 That the Lord called Samuel : and he an- neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed 
swered, Here a?n L unto him. 

26 



462 



THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering 
for ever. 

1 5 T[ And Samuel lay until the morning, and 
opened the doors of the house of the Lord. 
And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. 

1 6 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, 
my son. And he answered, Here am I. 

17 And he said. What is the thing that M^ 
Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide 
it not from me : God do so to thee, and more 
also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the 
things that he said unto thee. 

18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid 
nothing from him. And he said. It is the 
Lord : let him do what seemeth him good. 

19 \ And Samuel grew, and the Lord was 
with him, and did let none of his words fall to 
the ground. 

20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beer- 
sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a 
prophet of the Lord. 

21 And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh : 
for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in 
Shiloh by the word of the Lord. 



8 And the Lord called Samuel again the 
third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and 
said. Here am I ; for thou didst call me. And 
Eli perceived that the Lord had called the 
child. 

9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie 
down : and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou 
shalt say, Speak, Lord ; for thy servant heareth. 
So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

10 And the Lord came, and stood, and 
called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then 
Samuel answered. Speak ; for thy servant 
heareth. 

1 1 \ And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, 
I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the 
ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. 

12 In that day I will perform against Eli all 
things which I have spoken concerning his 
house : when I begin, I will also make an end. 

13 For I have told him that I will judge his 
house for ever for the iniquity which he know- 
eth ; because his sons made themselves vile, 
and he restrained them not. 

14 And therefore I have sworn unto the 
house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house 

" Of Bible boys Samuel is a chief favorite. The reason is that nothing 
under the sun is more beautiful than piety in childhood. Nothing like 
grace for making the young graceful. Martin Luther in his gentler mo- 
ments dwelt with great tenderness on the boyhood of Samuel. He found 
in him what he longed to see in his own boys and in all boys. When God 
called 'Samuel, Samuel,' he answered at once, 'Speak, Lord; for thy ser- 
vant heareth.' There we have, as in a nutshell, the history of a child of 
God."— y. Wells. 

Life is full of the calls of God. The mode of the call may be various, 
and the manner in which the call may be received may be various also. We 
are all taught to expect to be (failed of God, None are too poor, too 
humble, too little gifted ; all are to be fellow-workers with God. How, then, 
do we respond to God's call ? Ls not Samuel's answer, " Speak, Lord ; for Thy 
servant heareth," in its childlike siinplicity, faith and submissiveness, a most 
beautiful and perfect type of what our answer should be ? Even the 
maturest and most saintly cannot transcend this response of the temple- 
child. 

Closet Promise. — And He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth 
them out. — John x. 3. 



And what can fill us with a loftier inspiration, or lift us with a more sub- 
lime and blessed confidence than this — the fact that Christ, the Eternal 
Shepherd, has a personal recognition of us, leading us on by name and 



TUESDAY. 



463 



calling us to follow ? No matter whether He call us into ways of gain or 
of suffering, of honor or of scorn, it is all one with such a leader before us. 
Nay, if we go down to sound the depths of sorrow and ennoble the pains 
of sacrifice and perfume the grave of ignominy, what are these but a more 
inspiring and more godlike call, since He is now our leader even there? — 
Horace Bushnell. 



WEDNESDAY. 

Faith and Confession. — Rom. x. 1-13. 



1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to 
God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 

2 For I bear them record that ihey have a 
zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 

3 For they, being ignorant of God's right- 
eousness, and going about to establish their own 
righteousness, have not submitted themselves 
unto the righteousness of God. 

4 For Christ is the end of the law for right- 
eousness to every one that believeth. 

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness 
which is of the law, That the man which doeth 
those things shall live by them. 

6 But the righteousness which is of faith 
spe.-iketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart. 
Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to 
bring Christ Aov/nfrom above:) 

7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep ? 



(that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 

8 But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, 
even in thy mouth, and in thy heart : that is, 
the word of faith, which we preach ; 

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth 
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart 
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou 
shalt be saved. 

10 For with the heart man believeth unto 
righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is 
made unto salvation. 

11 For the Scripture saith. Whosoever be- 
lieveth on him shall not be ashamed. 

12 For there is no difference between the 
Jew and the Greek ; for the same Lord over all 
is rich unto all that call upon him. 

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name 
of the Lord shall be saved. 



We read, in verse 8, that the word is nigh us, namely, that it is declared 
to us ; that we have it in the heart — w"here the Holy Spirit has impressed it, 
and in the mouth, by which we declare it. 

" The mouth and the heart cannot be separated." — Cramer. 

" The heart without the mouth is timidity ; the mouth without the heart 
is hypocrisy." — Hediitger. 

Living preaching is God's chosen means of instruction (verse 14). 

" It is the first and most pressing duty of the Church to cause all men 
to hear the gospel. The solemn question, ' How can they believe without a 
preacher?' should sound day and night in the ears of the churches. The 
gospel's want of success, or the fact that few believe our report, is only a 
reason for its wider extension. The more who hear, the more will be saved, 
even should it be but a small proportion of the whole." — Hodge. 

" Let us rejoice in the .spread which the gospel has already had, and let 
us earnestly and daily pray that the voices of those Divine messengers that 
proclaim it may go forth unto all the earth, and their words reach, in a 
literal sense, to the remotest ends of the globe. Lord, give us any plague 
rather thah the plague of the heart." — Doddridge, 



464 THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 

Closet Promise, — I am the way, the truth, and the life. — John xiv. 6. 



He is a path, if any be misled ; 

He is a robe, if any naked be ; 

If any chance to hunger, he is bread j 

If any be a bondman, he is free ; 

If any be but weak, how strong is He ? 



To dead men life He is, to sick men health, 
To blind men sight, and to the needy wealth — 
A pleasure without loss, a treasure without 
stealth. —Giles Fletcher. 



THURSDAY. 

The Promises of the Gospel to the Penitent. — Jer. iii. 12-19. 



12 \ Go and proclaim these words toward 
the north, and say. Return, thou backsliding 
Israel, saith the Lord ; and I will not cause 
mine anger to fall upon you : for I am merciful, 
saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for 
ever. 

13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that 
thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy 
God, and hast scattered thy ways to the 
strangers under every green tree, and ye have 
not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. 

14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the 
Lord ; for I am married unto you : and I will 
take you one of a city, and two of a family, and 
I will bring you to Zion : 

15 And I will give you pastors according to 
mine heart, which shall feed you with knowl- 
edge and understanding. 

16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be 
multiplied and increased in the land, in those 



days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, 
The ark of the covenant of the Lord : neither 
shall it come to mind ; neither shall they re- 
member it; neither sh.ill they visit jV/ neither 
shall that be done any more. 

17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the 
throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be 
gathered unto it, to the name of the LoRD, to 
Jerusalem : neither shall they walk any more 
after the imagination of their evil heart. 

18 In those days the house of Judah shall 
walk with the house of Israel-, and they shall 
come together out of the land of the north to 
the land that I have given for an inheritance 
unto your fathers. 

19 But I said. How shall I put thee among 
the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a 
goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I 
said. Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt 
not turn away from me. 



God pities the backslider, just as the general on the field of battle pities 
the wounded who are carried bleeding by their comrades to the rear. He 
says : " Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, 
thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord : and I will not cause mine anger to 
fall upon you ; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger 
for ever." 

" I know of a father, who, after his son came back the fourth time, said, 
' No ! I forgave you three times, but I will never forgive you again.' And 
the son went off and died. But God takes back His children the thousandth 
time as cheerfully as the first. As easily as with my handkerchief I strike 
the dust off this book, God will wipe out all our sins. Oh, this mercy of 
God ! "— T: De Witt Talmage, D. D. 

" You cannot believe too much in God's mercy. You cannot expect too 
much at His hands. He is ' able to do exceeding abundantly above all that 
we ask or think.' No sin is so great but that, coming straight from it, a 
repentant sinner may hope and believe that all God's love will be lavished 
upon him, and the richest of God's gifts granted to his desires." — Madaren. 



THURSDAY. 



465 



Closet Promise. — The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to 
the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and 
quietlj^ wait for the salvation of the Lord. — Lam. iii. 25. 



I'll take my cross and bear it ever, 

For Jesus, day by day ; 
He'll give me grace to bear it bravely, 

He'll help me watch and pray. 

I'll take my cross and bear it ever, 
The cross for me He bore ; 



Soon glory-crowned I'll reign in heaven 
With him for ever more. 

" No cross, no crown ! " Then welcome ever 
The cross He bids me take ; 
I'll bravely bear, and murmur never, 
The cross for Jesus' sake ! 

—Mrs. C. M. S. Burr. 



FRIDAY. 

Saul's Conversion. — Acts ix. 1-22. 



1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings 
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, 
went unto the high priest, 

2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to 
the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, 
whether they were men or women, he might 
bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 

3 And as he journeyed, he came near Da- 
mascus : and suddenly there shined round about 
him a light from heaven : 

4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice 
saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest 
thou me ? 

5 And he said, Who art thou. Lord ? And 
the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecut- 
est :. it is hard for thee to kick against the 
pricks. 

6 And he trembling and astonished said. 
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? And the 
Lord said \xx\\.o him. Arise, and go into the city, 
and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 

7 And the men which journeyed with him 
stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no 
man. 

8 And Saul arose from the earth ; and when 
his eyes were opened, he saw no man : but they 
led him by the hand, and brought Jiim into Da- 
mascus. 

9 And he was three days without sight, and 
neither did eat nor drink. 

10 And there was a certain disciple at Da- 
mascus, named Ananias ; and to him said the 
Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said. Be- 
hold, I am here. Lord. 

1 1 And the Lord said unto him. Arise, and 
go into the street which is called Straight, and 
inquire in the house of Judas for one called 
Saul, of Tarsus : for, behold, he prayeth, 



12 And hath seen in a vision a man named 
Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on 
him, that he might receive his sight. 

13 Then Ananias answered. Lord, I have 
heard by many of this man, how much evil he 
hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem : 

14 And here he hath authority from the chief 
priests to bind all that call on thy name. 

15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: 
for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my 
name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the 
children of Israel ; 

16 For I will shew him how great things he 
must suffer for my name's sake. 

17 And Ananias went his way, and entered 
into the house ; and putting his hands on him 
said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that 
appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, 
hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy 
sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 

18 And immediately there fell from his eyes 
as it had been scales: and he received sight 
forthwith, and arose, and was Ijaptized. 

19 And when he had received meat, he was 
strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with 
the disciples which were at Damascus. 

20 And straightway he preached Christ in the 
synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 

21 But all that heard him were amazed, and 
said; Is not this he that destroyed them which 
called on this name in Jerusalem, and came 
hither for that intent, that he might bring them 
bound unto the chief priests? 

22 But Saul increased the more in strength, 
and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Da- 
mascus, proving that this is very Christ. 



The conversion of a sinner from the error of his way is one of the noblest 
works of God ; and perhaps in the conversion of no individual have those 



466 THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 

attributes been more fully manifested than in the conversion of Saul of 
Tarsus. Notice : 

1. Tlie supernatural ilhnnination lie experienced. "A light from heaven," 
" A great light above the greatness of the sun " (Acts xxii. 6), shone around 
and upon him. It was the appearance of Christ himself (i Cor. xv. 8). Now 
true conversion in every man commences something in the same way. 
Though not attended with any vision to the bodily senses, yet it must be 
" light from heaven " — a Divine illumination. 

2. The prostration of soul he manifested. " Saul fell to the earth." And 
thus the Holy Ghost deals with sinners in their conversion. He not only 
enlightens, but humbles them. 

3. The strong emotions he felt. " He trembled and was astonished." And 
to this state God brings every convinced sinner. As he thinks of the justice 
and holiness of God, he trembles. As he thinks of the long-suffering of 
God towards him, he is astonished. 

4. The sincere prayer he offered. " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " 
This is the true feeling of a sincere convert. 

5. The devotion he displayed. " He arose from the earth." So far he was 
passive, now he becomes active. Sin is given up in every true conversion, 
and communion with God becomes the convert's daily delight. 

" When the word came to Ananias he at first hesitated because of the 
notorious character of Saul ; but, yielding, he went his way, and entered the 
house of Judas. Little is recorded of the interview, but we can imagine the 
feelings of both. The first word of the disciple opens wide the door of 
Christian fellowship — 'Brother Saul ! ' It was a new word and a new 
thought. There was no brotherhood in Pharisaism. Through the instru- 
mentality of this divinely -appointed messenger the scales fell from the eyes 
of the praying penitent, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit." — R. R. 
Meredith, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — As for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee 
so to do. — Deut. xviii. 14. 

We give thanks often with a tearful, doubtful voice, for our spiritual 
mtrcles positive ; but what an almost infinite field there is for mercies nega- 
tive ! We cannot even imagine all that God has suffered us 7iot to do, not 
to be. — F. R Havergal. 



SATURDAY. 



467 



SATURDAY. 

Praise. — Psalm cxxxv. 



11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king 
of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan : 

12 And gave their land for a heritage, a 
heritage unto Israel his people. 

13 Thy name, O Lord, eudtireth for ever; 
and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all 
generations. 

14 For the Lord vi'ill judge his people, and 
he will repent himself concerning his servants. 

15 The idols of the heathen are silver and 
gold, the work of men's hands. . 

16 They have mouths, but they speak not; 
eyes have they, but they see not; 

17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither 
is there any breath in their mouths. 

18 They that make them are like unto them : 
so is every one that trusteth in them. 

19 Bless the Lord, O house of Israel : bless 
the Lord, O house of Aaron : 

20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi : ye that 
fear the Lord, bless the Lord. 

21 Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which 
dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord. 



1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name 
of the Lord ; praise him, O ye servants of the 
Lord. 

2 Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in 
the courts of the house of our God, 

3 Praise the LoRD; for the Lord is good: 
sing praises unto his name ; for it is pleasant. 

4 For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto him- 
self, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. 

5 For I know that the Lord is great, and 
that our Lord is above all gods. 

6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he 
in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all 
deep places. 

7 He causelh the vapours to ascend from the 
ends of the earth ; he maketh lightnings for 
the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his 
treasuries. 

8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of 
man and beast. 

9 Who sent tokens and wonders into the 
midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and 
upon all his servants. 

10 Who smote great nations, and slew mighty 
kings ; 

" Here we see the servant of the Lord arousing his fellow-servants by- 
three times calling upon them to praise. Are we, then, so slow in such a 
sweet company ? Or is it that when we do our utmost it is all too little for 
such a Lord ? Both are true. We do not praise enough ; we cannot praise 
too much. We ought to be always at it, answering to the command here 
given — Praise, Praise, Praise. Let the Three-in-one have the praises of our 
spirit, soul and body. For the past, the present and the future let us render 
three-fold hallelujahs." — C. H. Sptirgeon. 

As Gotthold was one day passing a tradesman's home he heard the potes 
of a psalm, with which the family were concluding their morning meal. He 
was deeply affected, and, with a full heart, said to himself: O my God, how 
pleasing to m.y ears is the sound of Thy praise, and how comforting to my 
soul the thought that there are still a few who bless Thee for Thy goodness. 
Alas ! the great bulk of mankind have become brutalized and resemble the 
swine, which in harvest gather and fatten upon the acorns beneath the oak, 
but show to the tree, which bore them, no other thanks than rubbing off its 
bark and tearing up the sod around it. 

Closet Promise. — I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for- 
ever : nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it : and God doeth 
it that men should fear before Him. — Eccles. iii. 14. 



168 



THIRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



Do what Thou wilt ! yes, only do 
What seemeth good to Thee; 

Thou art so loving, wise and true, 
It must be best for me. 

Send what Thou wilt ; or beating shower, 
Soft dew, or brilliant sun ; 



Alike in still or stormy hour. 
My Lord, Thy will be done. 

Take what Thou wilt, beloved Lord, 

For I have all in Thee ! 
My own exceeding great reward, 

Thou, Thou Thyself shalt be. 

— F. R. Havergal. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER, 

Breakfast Motto. — Eat thy bread with joy. — Eccl. ix. 7. 
Weekly Proverb. — Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and 
not what you please. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— THE ISRAELITES IN THE WILDERNESS. 

Sunday. — A Wise Father-in-law. — Ex. xviii. 1-27. 

Mo7iday. — God's Presence on Mt. Sinai. — Ex. xix. 1-25. 

Tuesday. — The Ten Commandments. — Ex. xx. 1-26. 

Wednesday. — The Uplifted Serpent. — Num. xxi. 1-9. 

Thursday. — The Song of Moses. — Deut. xxxii. 1-43. 

Friday. — The Blessings of the Twelve Tribes. — Deut. xxxiii. I-29. 

Saturday. — Visions from Pisgah. — Deut. xxxiv. 1-12. 



THE BEST THAT I CAN. 



" I cannot do much," said a little star, 
" To make the dark world bright ! 

My silvery beams cannot struggle far 
Through the folding gloom of night ! 

But I'm only a part of God's great plan, 

And I'll cheerfully do the best that I can.' 

"What's the use," said a fleecy cloud, 
"Of those few drops that I hold? 

They will hardly bend the lily proud, 
Though caugfit in her cup of gold ! 

Yet I'm a part of God's great plan. 

So my treasures I'll give as well as I can. 

A child went merrily forth to play. 
But a thought like a silver thread 

Kept winding in and out all day 
Through the happy golden head ; 



Mother said : " Darling, do all you can. 
For you are a part of God's great plan ! " 

She knew no more than the glancing star, 
Nor the cloud with its chalice full ! 

How, why, and for what all things were — 
She was only a child at school ! 

But thought : " It's a part of God's great plan, 

That even I .should do all that I can ! " 

So she helped a younger child along. 
When the road was rough to her feet. 

And she sang from her heart a little song. 
That we all thought passing sweet ; 

And her father, a weary, toil-worn man. 

Said : " I, too, will do the best that I can." 
—Selected. 



Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. — Matt. xxvi. 41. 

Little Henry was slowly recovering, and just able to be about the room, 
when his sister came in eating a piece of cake. Henry's mother had told 
him that it would not be safe for him to have what the other children did 
till he was stronger. His appetite was coming back : the cake looked in- 
viting. "Jennie," said he, "you mu.st run right out of the room away from 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 469 

me with that cake ; and I'll keep my eyes shut while you go, so that I 
sha'n't want it." That is the way to resist temptation : just shut your eyes 
and turn away from it. The reason why so many people do wrong is be- 
cause they go where temptation is. They go among bad people or into bad 
places on purpose, Then the devil overcomes them. Now, we must 
" watch," that is, look out. Then we must " pray," that is, tell Jesus and ask 
Him to help us. I know a little boy who prayed : " O Jesus, I am going to 
school to-day ; the boys are rough ; they say bad words, and do naughty 
and wicked things ; they cheat the teacher. Dear Jesus, keep me from be- 
ing like them. Amen." That boy carried it all to Jesus, and the dear Lord 
gave him strength to resist temptation. 



THIRTY-SEVENTH W^EEK, 



PEARL TEXT.— Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that 
man is peace. — Psalm xxxvii. 37. 



Life! we've been long together, 
Through pleasant and through cloudy weather. 
'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; 
Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear; 



Then steal away, give little warning; 

Choose thine own time ; 
Say not good-night, but in some brighter clime 

Bid me good-morning. — Selected. 



Wordsworth said he wished he had written those lines. 
Death has lost its sting ; and, I thank God, I know not what Jiurry of 
spirit is, or unbelieving fears. — Fletcher. 



Are you looking for His coming 

Some day ? 
Are you ready for His coming 

Any way ? 
Should He come next night or morn,- 
Should He tarry, or come soon, 

Are you ready ? 



I Sudden as lightning flash He'll come 

Some day, 

To take His white-robed bride 

Away — 
Robed, and ready for her Lord, 
She will be by Him adored ; 
Oh, be ready ! 

— Rev. John Parker. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR, 



SUNDAY. 

' The Armor of Light." — Rom. xiii. 



1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher 
powers. For there is no power but of God : the 
powers that be are ordained of God. 

2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, 
resisteth the ordinance of God : and they that 
resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 

3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, 
but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid 
of the power ? do that which is good, and thou 
shalt have praise of the same : 

4 For he is the minister of God to thee for 
good. But if thou do that which is evil, be 
afraid : for he beareth not the sword in vain : for 
he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute 
wrath upon him that doeth evil. 

5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not 
only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. 

6 For, for this cause pay ye tribute also : for 
they are God's ministers, attending continually 
upon this very thing. 

7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute 
to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom cus- 
tom ; fear to whom fear; honour to whom 
honour. 



8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one 
another : for he that loveth another hath fulfilled 
the law. 

9 For this. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal. Thou 
shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not 
covet ; and if thej-e be any other commandment, 
it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely. 
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour : 
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 

1 1 And that, knowing the time, that now it is 
high lime to awake out of sleep : for now is our 
salvation nearer than when we believed. 

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand : 
let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, 
and let us put on the armour of light. 

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not 
in rioting and in drunkenness, not in cham- 
bering and wantonness, not in strife and envy- 
ing : 

14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the 
lusts thereof. 



The keynote of this chapter is : To every one his due ! The Christian's 
(470) 



SUNDAY. 



471 



royal motto: I. In reference to his relation to the civil authority (vers. i-6) ; 
2. In his intercourse with every man (vers. 7-14). 

In ver. 14 we have the grand summary. "All Christian duty is included 
in putting on the Lord Jesus; in being like Him, having that similarity of 
temper and conduct which results from being intimately united to Him by 
the Holy Spirit." — Hodge. 

" Put on the armor of light" — the evidence of our loyalty to Christ. 

" Look into Christ's wardrobe, and you will find no torn or ragged ap- 
parel ; Christ had the robe of righteousness, the garment of innocency, the 
spotless coat of temperance and chastity, and with these he went about 
doing good. Out of this wardrobe we must make up our wedding garment. 
We must be conformable to Christ." — Farindoii. 

The call of Christianity is a call to awake from spiritual sleep (verses ll- 
14). The reason given is, it is almost morni7ig. Yield yourselves with glad 
consent to this greatest motive — the end is near — near His coming, near our 
final home. 

Closet Promise. — For it is God which worketh in you both to will and 
to do of His good pleasure. — Phil. ii. 13. 



Fall warm, fall fast, thou mellow rain ! 

Thou rain of God, malce fat the land ; 

That roots which parch in burning sand 
May bud to flower and fruit again. 



Failure ? — while tide-floods rise and boil 
Round cape and isle, in port and cove, 
Resistless, star-led from above : 

What though one tiny wave recoil ? 

— Charles Kingsley. 



MONDAY. 



3 1[ And Samuel spake unto all the house of 
Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord 
with all your hearts, then put away the strange 
gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and pre- 
pare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him 
only: and he will deliver you out of the hand 
of the Philistines. 

4 Then the children of Israel did put away 
Baalam and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord 
only. 

5 And Samuel siid, Gather all Israel to 
Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the 
Lord. 

6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, 
and drew water, and poured it out before the 
Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there. 
We have sinned against the Lord. And 
Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. 

7 And when the Philistines heard that the 
children of Israel were gathered together to 



Sam. vii. 3-14. 

Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up 
against Israel. And when the children of 
Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philis- 
tines. 

8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, 
Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, 
that he will save us out of the hand of the Phil- 
istines. 

9 \ And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and 
offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the 
Lord : and Samuel cried unto the Lord for 
Israel ; and the Lord heard him. 

ID And as Samuel was offering up the burnt 
offering, the Philistines drew near to battle 
against Israel : but the Lord thundered with a 
great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, 
and discomfited them ; and they were smitten 
before Israel. 

II And the men of Israel went out of Miz- 



472 



THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



pell, and pursued the Philistines, and smote 
them, until they came under Beth-car. 

12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it be- 
tv/een Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name 
of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord 
hepled us. 

13 \ So the Philistines were subdued, and 
they came no more into the coast of Israel : and 



the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines 
all the days of Samuel. 

14 And the cities which the Philistines had 
taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from 
Ekron even unto Gath ; and the coasts thereof 
did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philis- 
tines. And there was peace between Israel and 
the Amorites. 



"The coming on of a great trouble or grief; the hours of anguish, which 
we may or may not confide to another ; those habitual troubles which weigh 
down life with a perpetual gravitation ; and, on the other hand, the rolling 
away of grief; the glad morning after the night ; the dawn of great affections 
in the soul — which are the best blessings that God ever gives, and are to us 
what the coming of the morning sun is to the day ; the emerging into the 
light of a new faith ; victories over easily besetting sins ; the conquest over 
inbred sins ; clearer views ; stronger impulses of conscience ; a new sense of 
manhood infused into our souls ; a more heroic impulse taking the place of 
a craven or mere physical habitude of obedience — all these critical, inward 
experiences are worthy of some external recognition. We should specialize 
them. We should think of them in their individuality and in their se- 
quences; and it would be well for us if we could set up some memorial, and 
be able to bear witness to one another, saying, ' Hitherto the Lord hath 
helped us.' " — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — Thou art My servant ; I have formed thee ; thou art 
My servant; O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me. — Isa. xliv. 21. 



Oh, give Thy servant patience to be still. 

And bear Thy will ; 
Courage to venture wholly on the arm 

That will not harm ; 



The wisdom that will never let me stray 

Out of my way ; 
The love, that, now afflicting, knoweth best 

When I should rest. 

—J. M. Neale. 



Accept His will entirely, and never suppose that you could serve Him 
better in any other way. You can never serve Him well, save in the way 
He chooses. Supposing that you were never to be set free from such trials, 
what would you do ? You would say to God, " I am Thine — if my trials 
are acceptable to Thee, give me more and more/' I have full confidence 
that this is what you would say, and then you would not think more of it — 
at any rate, you would not be anxious. Well, do the same now. Make 
friends with your trials, as though you were always to live together ; and 
you will see that when you cease to take thought for your own deliverance, 
God will take thought for you ; and when you cease to help yourself 
eagerly, He will help you. — Francis de Sales. 



THIRTY-SEVENTH WEE: 



473 



TUESDAY. 

An Eventide Psalm. — Psalm viii. 



1 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy 
name in all the earth ! who hast set thy glory 
above the heavens. 

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings 
hast thou ordained strength because of thine 
enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and 
the avenger. 

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of 
thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou 
hast ordained ; 

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? 
and the son of man, that thou visitest him ? 

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than 



the angels, and hast crowned him with glory 
and honour. 

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over 
the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all Mii^s 
under his feet : 

7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of 
the field ; 

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, 
and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the 
seas. 

9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy 
name in all the earth ! 



Christ is the pfincipal subject of this Psalm, and it is interpreted of Him, 
both by our Loi-d himself (Matt. xxi. i6), and by His holy apostle (i Cor. 
XV. 27 ; Heb. ii. 6, 7). 

" The special excellence of the Divine nature celebrated in this Psalm is 
the implanting of strength in that which is apparently weak. The grand 
instance of this, and the only one here noticed, is man, both in his infancy 
and his maturity." — y. G. Murphy. 

This excellence of God's name particularly appears in three things: 1. 
In infants. " He who delights in the songs of angels is pleased to honor 
Himself in the eyes of His enemies by the praises of little children." 2. In 
the heavens, with the moon and stars. All these have been ordained by the 
all-wise God ; and the earth and its inhabitants are receiving continual bene- 
fits from them. 3. In man himself. " The dominion that God has bestowed 
on man is a great glory and honor to him ; for all dominion is honor, and 
the highest is that which wears the crown." 

Closet Promise. — Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
— Luke xii. 7. 

We all need in this scene of conflict to give heed to the following words 
from the pen of Walter J. Mathams : 



Cast all thy care on God, 

Nor deem thou doest wrong ; 

With ease He'll bear the largest load. 
For He is very strong. 

What makes thy spirit bend, 

He will not feel at all ; 
The mighty universe itself 

To Him is very small. 



' Then be thou wise at once. 
Come in thy need to Him ; 
Why shouldst thou bear the cross alone. 
Which wearies every limb ? 

' If thou shouldst longer stay, 

'Twill grow in size and weight 
Unlil it crush thee in the dust 
And make thee wise too late. 



474 



THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



Be this thy heart's true creed : 
God knows thy every care, 



And only waits thy willingness 
Thee and thy cross to bear." 



WEDNESDAY. 

Only Believe. — Matt. ix. i-S 



1 And he entered into a ship, and passed 
over, and came into his own city. 

2 And, behold, they brought to him a man 
sick of the palsy, lying on a bed ; and Jesus seeing 
their faith said unto the sick of the palsy ; Son, 
be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee. 

3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said 
within themselves, This jnan blasphemeth. 

4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said. 
Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts ? 

5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be 
forgiven thee ; or to say. Arise and walk? 

6 But that ye may known that the Son of man 
hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith 
he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy 
bed, and go unto thine house. 

7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 

8 But when the multitudes saw it, they mar- 
velled, and glorified God, which had given 
such power unto men. 



i8 ^ While he spake these things unto them, 
behold, thei-e came a certain ruler, and wor- 
shipped him, saying, My daughter is even 
now dead : but come and lay thy hand upon her, 
and she shall live. 

19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and 
so did his disciples. 

20 ^And, behold, a woman which was 
diseased with an issue of blood twelve years. 



18-31. ■ 

came behind him, and touched the hem of his 
garment : 

21 For she said within herself. If I may but 
touch his garment, I shall be whole. 

22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he 
saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort ; 
thy faith hath made thee whole, and the wo- 
man was made whole from that hour. 

23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's 
house, and saw the minstrels and the people 
making a noise, 

24 He said unto them. Give place : for the 
maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they 
laughed him to scorn. 

25 But when the people were put forth, he 
went in, and took her by the hand, and the 
maid arose. 

26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all 
that land. 

27 \ And when Jesus departed thence, two 
blind men followed him, crying, and saying, 
Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 

28 And when he was come into the house, 
the blind men came to him : and Jesus saith 
unto them. Believe ye that I am able to do 
this ? They said unto him. Yea, Lord. 

29 Then touched he their eyes, saying. Ac- 
cording to your faith be it unto you. 

30 And their eyes were opened, and Jesus 
straitly charged them, saying, See that no 
man know it. 

31 But they, when they were departed, 
spread abroad his fame in all that country. 



The power, glory and rewards of faith form the theme of this chapter. 

In the story of the poor paralytic, his friends not only believed abstractly 
in Christ's power; they brouglit their sick neighbor where He was. It was 
not an experiment with them, but the faith of confident expectation. 

The act 6{ the woman with the " bloody issue " was an expression of her 
faith. Of all those pressing on Jesus, hers was the touch of faith. "There 
may be much earthly rubbish in the soul that comes to Christ; but if there 
be in it one gleaming grain of the gold of faith, Christ will receive that soul 
with all its rubbish ; for He knows well that in due time all that is worthless 
will drop away, that the eye of faith will sweep over a vaster horizon of 
truth from day to day, until we shall be light in the Lord, and shall not 
walk in darkness." — E. Mellor, D.D. 

In the case of the healing of Jairus' daughter, in Mark's gospel we read 



WEDNESDAY. 



475 



that Jesus said to the father, " Be not afraid, only beheve." If Jesus speak 
the assuring word, fears may well be dismissed; but no other word of prom- 
ise can suffice. 

In the case of the two blind men, the promise was, "According to your 
faith be it unto you." " Faith is the bucket by means of which a man may 
draw water out of the wells of salvation, and drink to his heart's content." 

Closet Promise. — For a little space. — Ezra ix. 8. 



Behold the house 
Is dark, but there is brightness where the sons 
Of God are singing; and behold, the heart 
Is troubled, yet the nations walk in white: 
They have forgotten how to weep ; and thou 
Shalt also come, and I will foster thee 



And satisfy thy soul ; and thou shalt warm 
Thy trembling life beneath the smile of God. 
A little while — it is a little while — 
A little while, and I will comfort thee. 

— Jean Itigelow. 



THURSDAY. 

The Rod of Jesse. — Isa. xi. 1-9. 



1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the 
stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of 
his roots : 

2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon 
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of 
knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; 

3 And shall make him of quick understand- 
ing in the fear of the Lord : and he shall not 
judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove 
after the hearing of his ears : 

4 -But with righteousness shall he judge the 
poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of 
the earth : and he shall smite the earth with the 
rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his 
lips shall he slay the wicked. 



5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his 
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lartb, 
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; 
and the calf and the young lion and the falling 
together; and a little child shall lead them. 

7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their 
young ones shall lie down together: and the 
lion shall eat straw like the ox. 

8 And the sucking child shall play on the 
hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put 
his hand on the cockatrice' den. 

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my 
holy mountain : for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
sea. 



That this chapter refers to the times of the Messiah there can be no que.s- 
tion. It is also evident that the time here spoken of has not yet fully come, 
and the mind is still directed onward, as was that of the prophet, to a future 
period when this shall be accomplished. 

The prophecy has been, indeed, in part fulfilled. Wherever the gospel 
has spread, its effect has been just that which is predicted here. It has 
calmed and subdued the angry passions of men ; it has mitigated laws that 
were cruel and bloody ; it has produced mildness and love in the domestic 
circle ; and wherever it has spread in truth and not in form merely, it has 
shed a mild, calming and subduing influence over the passions, laws and 
customs of men. 

And Christ's kingdom is going forward from age to age. All the might 
of the world is now on the side of Christianity. Yes, Christ is a light to 



> 



v^ 



476 



THIRTY SEVENTH WEEK, 



lighten the Gentiles ; and the glory of the upper heavens shall yet scatter 
and chase away the darkness which still broods sullenly over the earth, and 
new, Divine life, long repressed, shall yet reveal itself in fair and wonderful 
and lavish fertility ; the very deserts of the world shall be covered with a 
moral wealth and beauty, of which the brightest spring time and the richest 
autumn are poor and pale symbols, and of which the loveliness of Paradise 
was only a dim and imperfect promise. 

Closet Promise. — Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Right- 
eousness arise with healing in His wings. — Mai. iv. 2. 



My mind was full of troubles wild, 

And all my heart was filled with sorrow, 

When, by my side, a liitle child 

Pointed toward the sky and smiled, 

And said, " The sun will shine to-morrow." 

Out in the paling golden West 

The rosy clouds were slowly fading. 
And softly, in her hidden nest, 
The mother-bird, beneath her breast, 
Her callow young from ill was shading. 

I looked, and all my pain had flown ; 

Would He, who e'en takes thought of spar- 
rows, 
Give me, instead of bread, a stone ? 



Or never heed my weary moan ? 

Or pierce my soul with many arrows ? 

Ah, no ! I felt that could not be ; 

He would not leave my soul in sorrow. 
But though the present dark may be. 
And filled with fear and misery. 

He'll send the sunshine on the morrow. 

O, weary souls ! however black 

Your lives may be, this comfort borrow ; 
Look ever forward, look not back, 
But keep upon the homeward track, ' 
And look for sunshine on the morrow. 

— Edith Helena Cooke. 



FRIDAY. 

"One Another." — James v, 



16-20. 



t6 Confess your faults one to another, and 
pray one for another, that ye may be healed. 
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man 
availeth much. 

17 Elias was a man subject to like passions 
as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might 
not rain : and it rained not on the earth by the 
space of three years and six months. 



18 And he prayed again, and the heaven 
gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 

19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the 
truth, and one convert him ; 

20 Let him know, that he which converteth 
the sinner from the error of his way shall save 
a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of 



Confess your faults one to another (verse 16). 

"As long as you make your faults a bulwark to stand behind and fight 
me, so long I am your enemy and you are my foe. ... It is not the offence, 
but the defence of the offence that makes it hard for us to bear with one 
another. A man may say to me, ' You are a vile sinner ; ' he may rain his 
words on me like blows, but if he comes back when his passion has gone 
down with tears in his eyes, and says, ' Oh, forgive me ; I did not mean it,' 
it is all gone, quicker than a flash of lightning. I love him all the more. 
The fault is not hard to bear. It is the defending the fault — it is the refusing 
to make up under fault — that rankles and makes us ugly in return. Where 



FRIDAY. 477 

there is one ugly man there are generally two. How wise, then, is James' 
command : ' Confess your faults one to another ! ' " — H. W. Beecher. 

" Pray one/or another" (verse l6). When your brother offends or does 
wrong, pray for him. Do not report his fault. Rejoice not in iniquity. If 
we prayed more we should blame less ; we should be far more tolerant ; we 
should not suspect so much ; we should not carry stories so much ; we 
should not do wrong so much. 

" Intercession is a wonderful help to forgiveness of injuries. See how the 
personal unkindness of brother and sister stirred up Moses to pray for each, 
and how repeatedly the wrong feeling, speaking and acting of the people 
against himself was made the occasion of prayer for them. Let us avail 
ourselves of this secret of his meekness. Also, it is an immense help to 
love. Do we not find that the more we pray for any one the more we 
love ? " — F. R. Haver gal. 

Closet Promise. — Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort ; who comforteth 
us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in 
any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 
—2 Cor. i. 3, 4. 

" Or, just as God comforted you. But that implies experience in sorrow ! 
Yes, comfort does not come to the light-hearted and merry. We must gc 
down into ' the depths,' if we would experience and appreciate this most 
precious of God's gifts — comfort — and thus be prepared to be co-workers 
together with Him." 



SATURDAY. 



Paul at Athens. — Acts 



'5-34- 



15 And they that conducted Paul brought 
him unto Athens : and receiving a command- 
ment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to 
liim with all speed, they departed. 

1 6 1[ Now while Paul waited for them at 
Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he 
saw the city wholly given to idolatry. 

17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue 
with the Jews, and with the devout persons, 
and in the market daily with them that met 
with him. 

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicu- 
reans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. 
And some said, What will this babbler say? 
other some. He seemeth to be a setter forth 
of strange gods: because he preached unto 
them Jesus, and the resurrection. 

27 



19 And they took him, and brought him unto 
Areopagus, saying,- May we know what this new 
doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is ? 

20 For thou bringest certain strange things to 
our ears : we would know therefore what these 
things mean. 

21 For all the Athenians, and strangers which 
were there, spent their time in nothing else, 
but either to tell or to hear some new thing. 

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' 
hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive 
that in all things ye are too superstitious. 

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your de- 
votions, I found an altar with this inscription, 
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom there- 
fore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto 
von. 



478 



THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



24 God that made the world and all things 
therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and 
earth, dwellelh not in temples made with 
hands ; 

25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, 
as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth 
to all life, and breath, and all things ; 

26 And hath made of one blood all nations 
of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, 
and hath determined the times before appointed, 
and the bounds of their habitation; 

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply 
they might feel after him, and find him, though 
he be not far from every one of us : 

28 For in him we live, and move, and have 
our being; as certain also of your own poets 
have said. For we are also his offspring. 

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring 
of God, we ought not to think that the God- 



head is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, 
graven by art and man's device. 

30 And the times of this ignorance God 
winked at ; but now commandeth all men every 
where to repent : 

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the 
which he will judge the world in righteousness 
by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof 
he hath given assurance unto all men in that 
he hath raised him from the dead. 

32 And when they heard of the resurrection 
of the dead, some mocked; and others said, 
We will hear thee again of this matter. 

33 So Paul departed from among them. 

34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and 
believed : among the which was Dionysius the 
Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and 
others with them. 



It was a bold thing for Paul to go into such a place as Athens; but he 
was there in God's providence, and he could depend on His help. The city 
was in truth " full of idols." This is no mere rhetorical exaggeration, but 
literal fact. One -ancient writer has said, " On every side there are idols, 
images, and temples ; " and a wit, in the degenerate days of the city, some- 
what caustically remarked, that " at Athens it was easier to find a god than 
a man." 

When Paul saw all this, he was grieved to the heart. So he went about, 
among the Jews, and the Greeks too, speaking to them of Jesus and the 
resurrection. At last, some of the philosophers met him, and asked him to 
explain what these new doctrines meant. Then it was that Paul stood on 
the top of a rock, called Mars' hill, and preached the true God to them. 
"Ah ! how like Athens are our modern cities ; and yet how quietly we 
take it ! Multitudes are bowing at the shrine of the golden calf, making 
money the chief end they seek. Many are doing homage in the temple of 
Fame, accounting a niche in that the highest glory of existence; thousands 
more are wallowing in the mire of sensuality, whose worship to-day is as 
degrading as was that of the ancient Astarte ; while at every street corner 
there is a fane erected to Bacchus, whose devotees are as noisy and debased 
as those who followed the mythic Silenus astride upon his wine-skin. But 
where are the Pauls? where are the spirits stirred into activity by the sight 
of the wretchedness that reigns around ? Let us thank God there are some, 
and their number is increasing ; but there are too many among us, calling 
themselves, too, by the name of Christ, who let the black tide of sin and 
misery roll past them without one thought of rescuing a single victim from 
the waves, or doing anything to dry up the waters." — W. M. Taylor, D. D, 



SATURDAY. 



479 



Closet Promise. — Every purpose of the Lord shall be performed. — Jer. 
li. 29. 

We mustn't be in a hurry to fix and choose our own lot; we must wait 
to be guided. We are led on, like the little children, by a way that we 
know not. It is a vain thought to flee from the work that God appoints us, 
for the sake of finding a greater blessing to our own souls ; as if we could 
choose for ourselves where we shall find the fulness of the Divine Presence, 
instead of seeking it where alone it is to be found, in loving obedience. — 
George Eliot. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. — Deut. 
xxviii. 5. 

Weekly Proverb. — Jack Little sow'd little, and little he'll reap. — Poor 
Richm'd. 

■DM.^?i BIBLE READING.— OLD TESTAMENT PARABLES. 



Sunday. — Balaam's First Parable. — Num. xxiii. I-13. 
Monday. — Balaam's Second Parable. — Num. xxiii. 14-26. 
Tuesday. — Jotham — Trees making a King. — Judg. ix. 7-21. 
Wednesday. — Samson — Strong bringing forth Sweetness. — Judg. xiv. 5-20. 
Thursday. — Nathan's Picture Sermon. — 2 Sam. xii. 1-6. 
Friday. — Woman of Tekoah — Two Brothers Striving. — 2 Sam. xiv. 1-24. 
Saturday. — The Smitten Prophet — The Escaped Prisoner. — i Kings xx. 
35-43- 

NOT BROKEN, BUT CRACKED. 



'Twas a set of resolutions, 

As fine as fine could be, 
And signed in painstaking fashion, 

By Nettie and Joe and Bee ; 
And last in the list was written, 

In letters broad and dark 
(To look as grand as the others), 

" Miss Baby Grace, her mark ! " 

' We'll try all ways to help our mother, 
We wont be selfish to each other ; 
We'll say kind words to every one ; 
We wont tie Pussy's feet for tun ; 
We wont be cross and snarly, too ; 
And all the good we can we'll do." 

" It's just as easy to keep them," 
The children gayly cried ; 



But mamma, with a smile, made answer, 
" Wait, darlings, till you're tried." 

And truly, the glad, bright New Year — 
Wasn't his birthday old ? — 

And three little sorrowful faces, 
A sorrowful story told. 

" And how are your resolutions ? 

We asked of the Baby Grace, 
Who stood with a smile of wonder 

On her dear little dimpled face ; 
Quick came the merry answer — 

She never an instant lacked — 
" I don't fink much of 'em's broken. 

But I dess 'em's about all cracked." 

—Selected. 



480 THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 

Forgive, if ye have aught against any. — Mark xi. 25. 

In a school in Ireland, one boy struck another ; and, when he was about 
to be punished, the injured boy begged for his pardon. The master asked, 
" Why do you wish to keep him from being flogged?" The boy replied, 
" I have read in the New Testament that our Lord Jesus Christ said that we 
should forgive our enemies ; and therefore I forgive him, and beg he may 
not be punished for my sake." Dear children, don't you think the boy who 
struck him ought to have loved such a noble little fellow as that ever after ? 
I should think he would never strike him again. You know, in the Lord's 
Prayer, we say, " Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass 
against us." Now, you see, if we don't forgive others, then God can't for- 
give us. If He answers that prayer. He will do just as we do. " But," you 
say, " suppose, after I do forgive, that they do it again ; must I forgive any 
more ?" Yes ; Peter asked the Lord how many times he should forgive — 
"till seven times?" And what did the Lord tell him? He said, "Till 
seventy times seven." That means any number of times, even as often as 
others shall offend. Oh ! children, if we can learn this lesson, we will be so 
much happier. 



^ -C' 



'ft. 



THE DEAD LAMB. 

482 



THE DEAD LAMB. 

Did you ever have a beautiful pet lamb ? I had, when I was a little boy ; 
and I was very fond of it. It knew its name, and would follow me all about, 
I was so fond of it, that I was quite willing to let it share any little dainties 
that I might have. But it is not about my pet lamb that I am going to talk, 
but about the one in the picture. Jane and Mary each loved their 
" Snowy," as they called him. Every morning they ran out to feed him. 
One morning they went, as usual, but " Snowy" could not be found. They 
looked all about the house and yard, but it was all in vain. No one had 
seen him that morning. At last the good sisters found him. And what do 
you think they saw ? They could scarcely believe it. Why, there was 
" Snowy " dead! Then how they cried ! 

Now, did you ever think, you are your inothe/s lambs ? For you she 
thinks the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. And when 
you are sick she watches over you with the tenderest care. You are her 
pets. And if you should die, how she would weep ! Your mother loves 
you so. I read of a mother whose little darling died, and this is the way 
she wrote about it — 

" Is it Thy will ? 
My Father, say, must this pet lamb be given ? 
Oh ! Thou hast many such in heaven." 
And a soft voice said: " Nobly hast thou striven, 

But — peace, be still." 

Oh how I wept. 
And clasped her to my bosom, with a wild 
And yearning love — my lamb, my pleasant child. 
Her, too, I gave. The little angel smiled, 

And slept. 

(483) 



THIRTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. 

Cor. X. 5. 



-Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. — 2 



Let every thought 
Be captive brought, 
Lord Jesus Christ, to Thine own sweet obedi 
ence ! 



That I may know, 
In ebbless flow. 
The perfect peace of full and pure allegiance. 
— /'. K. Havergal. 



The little world within is, hke the great world without, full of confusion 
and strife ; but when Jesus enters it, and whispers, " Peace be unto you," 
there is a calm, yea, a rapture of bliss. — C. H. Spiirgcon. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR, 

SUNDAY. 

Thanksgiving. — Psalm cxxxviii. 



1 I will praise thee with my whole heart ; be- 
fore the gods will I sing praise unto thee. 

2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and 
praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for 
thy truth : for thou hast magnified thy word 
above all thy name. 

3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst 
me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my 
soul. 

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, 
O Lord, when they hear the words of thy 
mouth. 



5 Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the 
Lord : for great is the glory of the Lord. 

6 Though the Lord be high, yet hath he re- 
spect unto the lowly : but the proud he knoweth 
afar off. 

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, 
thou wilt revive me : thou shalt stretch forth 
thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, 
and thy right hand shall save me. 

8 The Lord will perfect that which con- 
cerneth me : thy mercy, O Lord, endiireth for 
ever : forsake not the works of thine own 
hands. 



" In full confidence David is prepared to own his God before the gods of 
the heathen, or before angels or rulef-s (verses 1-3) ; he declares that he will 
instruct and convert kings and nations, till on every highway men shall sing 
the praises of the Lord (4, 5). Having thus spoken, he utters his personal 
confidence in Jehovah, who will help His lowly servant and preserve him 
from all the malice of wrathful foes." — C. H. Spiirgcon. 

"Alas, for that capital crime of the Lord's people — barrenness in praises! 
Oh, how fully I am persuaded that a line of praises is worth a leaf of prayer, 
and an hour of praises is worth a day of fasting and mourning ! " — jFohn 
Livingstone. 

" I zvill praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness!' There are two beautiful 
thoughts brought out in \}i\^\. word." lovingkindness!' One is, " God's con- 
descension in thought; " the other, " His tenderness in action." 

"The mother may draw whole stores of comfort from a realization of the 
(484) 



SUNDAY. 486 

condescending thoughtfidness of God. He will be interested about her babe. 
If she commit it to Him, He who made the universe will, with His infinite 
mind, think upon her cradle and the helpless creature that is rocked to sleep 
therein. The sick man may draw whole stores of comfort from the same 
source, for he can believe the One by whom the body was fearfully and 
wonderfully made will think over the sufferings of that body, and alleviate 
them, or give strength for the enduraace of them if they must be borne. 
Condescension of thought marks all the dealings of God with His people. 
And hard following upon it comes tenderness in action. Now, this ' tender- 
ness in action ' is a great part of the lovingkindness of God ; it is meet that 
a thoughtful mind and tender hand should go together in the perfection of 
love. God is not only energetic, but tender also in action ; He is the God 
of the dew drops as well as the God of the thunder showers ; the God of 
the tender grass blade as much as of the mountain oak." — Pliilip Bennett 
Pozifcr. 

Closet Promise, — In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and 
strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. — Psalm cxxxviii. 3. 



' Strength for lo-day is all that we need, 
As there never will be a to-morrow ; 
For to-morrow will prove but another to-day, 
With its measure of joy and of sorrow. 



' Then why forecast the trials of life 

With much sad and grave persistence, 
And wait and watch for a crowd of ills 
That as yet have no existence ? " 



MONDAY. 

Lot's Bad Choice. — Gen. xiii.' 

1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and | strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and 
his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, j between my herdmen and thy herdmen ; for we 
into the south. , be brethren. 

2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in sil- ! 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate 
ver, and in gold. : thyself, I pray thee, from me : if thou wilt take 

3 And he went on his journeys from the \ the left hand, then I will go to the right : or if 
south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to 
tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el the left. 

and Hai ; j 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all 

4 Unto the place of the nltar, which lie had ; the plain of Jordan, that it was well-watered 
made there at the first: and there Abram called j everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom 
on the name of the Lord. i and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, 

5 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had | like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto 
flocks, and herds, and tents. . Zoar. 

6 And the land was not able to bear them, ' 1 1 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jor- 
that they might dwell together : for their sub- I dan ; and Lot journeyed east ; and they sep- 
stance was great, so that they could not dwell 1 arated themselves the one from the other, 
together. 1 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and 

7 And there was a strife between the herd- Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched 
men of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of 1 his tent toward Sodom. 

Lot's cattle : and the Canaanite and the Periz- ! 13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and 
zite dwelt then in the land. j sinners before the Lord exceedingly. 

8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no ' 14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after 



486 



T H I R T Y- E I G H T H WEEK. 



that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now 
Ihine eyes, and look from the place where thou 
art northward, and southward, and eastward, 
and westward : 

15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee 
will I give it, and to thy seed forever. 

16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of 



the earth : so that if a man can number the dust Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord 



of the earth, then shall thy seed also be num- 
bered. 

17 Arise, walk through the land in the length 
of it and in the breadth of it ; for I will give it 
unto thee. 

18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came 
and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in 



So far as the land was concerned, Lot made an admirable choice. It was 
the best part of the whole country for one whose principal wealth consisted 
in his flocks and herds. The pasturage was excellent. It was " well- 
watered " — there was no danger in it of drought. It was " as the garden 
of the Lord." In regard to the land, his selection was excellent. " But 
the men of Sodom were wicked." 

" Lot did just what men are doing to-day. He made choice of a home 
without making any inquiry as to the religious state of the neighborhood. 
Men do not care how poor the Church is if the farm be good. They will 
give up the most inspiring ministry in the world for ten feet more garden or 
a paddock to feed an ass in. They will tell you that the house is roomy, 
the garden is large, the air is balmy, the district is genteel, and if you ask 
them what religious teaching they will have there, they tell j'ou they really 
do not know, but must inquire! They will take away six children into a 
moral desert for the sake of a garden to play in ; they will leave Paul or 
Apollos for six feet of greenhouse ! Others, again, fix their tent where they 
can get the best food for the heart's life, and they sacrifice a summer-house 
that the}' inay now and again get a peep of heaven." — y. Parker, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that 
seek Him with the whole heart. — Psalm cxix. 2. 

I've been a great deal happier since I have given up thinking about what 
is easy and pleasant, and being discontented because I couldn't have my own 
will. Our life is determined for us ; and it makes the mind very free when 
we give up wishing, and only think of bearing what is laid upon us, and 
doing what is given us to do. — George Eliot. 



TUESDAY. 

Spiritual Idleness. — Matt. xx. 1-16. 



1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a 
man that is a householder, which went out 
early in the morning to hire labourers into his 
vineyard. 

2 And when he had agreed with the labour- 



ers for a penny a day, he sent them into his 
vineyard. 

3 And he went out about the third hour, and 
saw others standing idle in the market-place, 

4 And said unto them ; Go ye also into the 



TUESDAY. 



487 



vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give 
you. And they went their way. 

5 Again he went out about the sixth and 
ninth hour, and did likewise. 

6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, 
and found others standing idle, and saith unto 
them, Why stand ye here all the day idle ? 

7 They say unto him, Because no man hath 
hired us. He saith unto them. Go ye also' into 
the vineyard ; and whatsoever is right, that shall 
ye receive. 

8 So when even was come, the lord of the 
vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the la- 
bourers, and give them their hire, beginning 
from the last unto the first. 

9 And when they came that were hired about 
the eleventh hour, they received every man a 
penny. 

10 But when the first came, they supposed 



that they should have received more ; and they 
likewise received every man a penny. 

11 And when they had received it, they mur- 
mured against the good man of the house. 

12 Saying, These last have wrought but one 
hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, 
which have borne the burden and heat of the 
day. 

13 But he answered one of them, and said, 
Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou 
agree with me for a penny ? 

14 Take that thine is, and go thy way : I 
will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 

15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will 
with mine own ? Is thine eye evil, because I 
am good ? 

1 6 So the last shall be first, and the first last : 
for many be called, but few chosen. 



"A lazy Christian shall always want four things, viz. : Comfort, content, 
confidence and assurance. God hath made a separation between joy and 
idleness, between assurance and laziness, and therefore it is impossible for 
thee to bring these together." — T. Brooks. 

"A busy man is troubled but with one devil, but the idle man with a 
thousand." — Anon. 

" Jacob saw the angels, some ascending, others descending, but none 
standing still. God hath made Behemoth to play in the water, not so men ; 
they must be doing, that will keep in with God." — yolin Trapp. 

"A good minister, now in heaven, once preached to his congregation a 
powerful sennon founded upon the words : ' Wliy stand ye here all the day 
idle ? ' The sermon did good to many, among whom was a lady, who went 
to the minister the next day, and said, ' Doctor, I want a spade.' We should 
be happy to put spades into the hands of all our idle friends. There are 
Sunday-school spades, mission-room spades, tract-distribution spades, sick- 
visitation spades, etc., etc. Who will apply for them ? " — Selected. 

Closet Promise. — She hath done what she could. — Mark xiv. 8. 



He who God's will has borne and done. 
And his own restless longings stilled ; 



What else he does, or has foregone. 
His mission he has well fulfilled. 

— From the German. 



Cheered by the presence of God, I will do at each moment, without 
anxiety, according to the strength wliich He shall give me, the work that 
His Providence assigns me. I will leave the rest without concern ; it is not 
my affair. I ought to consider the duty to which I am called each day, as 
the work that God has given me to do, and to apply myself to it in a man- 



488 



THIRTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



ner worthy of His glory, that is to say, with exactness and in peace. I 
must neglect nothing ; I must be violent about nothing. — Fenelon. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Gospel of Confidence. — Psalm cxlvi. 



1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O 
my soul. 

2 While I live will I praise the Lord : I will 
sing praises unto my God while I have any 
being. 

3 Put not your trust in princes, tior in the 
son of man, in whom ihere is no help. 

4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his 
earth ; in that very day his thoughts perish. 

5 Happy is he that ha/h the God of Jacob for 
his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God : 

6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, 
and all that therein is : which keepeth truth for 
ever: 



7 Which executeth judgment for the op- 
pressed : which giveth food to the hungry. The 
Lord looseth the prisoners : 

8 The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind : 
the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down : 
the Lord loveth tlie righteous: 

9 The Lord preserveth the strangers; he re- 
lieveth the fatherless and widow : but the way 
of the wicked he turneth upside down. 

10 The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy 
God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye 
the Lord. 



" This Psalm gives in brief the Gospel of Confidence. It inculcates the 
elements of Faith, Hope and Thanksgiving." — Martin Geier. 

" George Carpenter, the Bavarian martyr, being desired by some godly 
brethren that when he was burning in the fire he would give them some 
sign of his constancy, answered : ' Let this be a sure sign unto you of my 
faith and perseverance in the truth, that so long as I am able to hold open 
my mouth, or to whisper, I will never cease to praise God and to profess 
His truth ; ' the which also he did, saith mine author ; and so did many other 
martyrs besides." — jfohn Trapp. 

Mr. John Janeway on his death-bed cried out thus: "Come, help me 
with praises, yet all is too little. Come, help me, all ye mighty and glorious 
angels, who are so well skilled in the heavenly work of praise ! Praise Him, 
all ye creatures upon earth ; let everything that hath being help me to praise 
God. Hallelujah ! Hallelujah ! Hallelujah ! Praise is now my work, and I 
shall be engaged in this sweet work now and for ever. Bring the Bible ; 
turn to David's Psalms, and let us sing a psalm of praise. Come, let us lift 
up our voices in the praises of the Most High. I will sing with you as long 
as my breath doth last, and when I have none I shall do it better." 

Closet Promise. — For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the 
beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. — Heb. ii. 14. 



So to the soul that knows Thy love, O Purest, 
There is a temple peaceful evermore ; 

And all the babble of life's angry voices 
Dies in hushed stillness at its sacred door. 



Far, far away the noise of passion dieth, 
And loving thoughts rise ever peacefully; 

And no rude storm, hov,' fierce soe'er it flieth, 
Disturbs the soul, that rests, O Lord, in Tliee. 
— Harriet Deechcr St ewe. 



THIRTY-EIGHTH WEBK. 



489 



THURSDAY. 



Spiritual Discernment. — i Cor. ii. 



1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, 
came not with excellency of speech or of wis- 
dom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 

2 For I determined not to know any thing 
among you, save Jesus Christ, and him cruci- 
fied. 

3 And I was with you in weakness, and in 
fear, and in much trembling. 

4 And my speech and my preaching zuas not 
with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in 
demonstration of the Spirit and of power : 

5 That your faith should not stand in the 
wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 

6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them 
that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this 
world, nor of the princes of this world, th.-\t 
come to nought : 

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mys- 
tery, even the hidden wisdom, which God or- 
dained before the world unto our glory ; 

8 Which none of the princes of tliis world 
knew : for had they known it, they would not 
have crucified the Lord of glory. 

9 But as it is written. Eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of 



man, the things which God hath prepared for 
them that love him. 

10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his 
Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, 
the deep things of God. 

11 For what man knoweth the things of a 
man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? 
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but 
the Spirit of God. 

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of 
the world, but the spirit which is of God; that 
we might know the things that are freely given 
to us of God. 

13 Which things also we speak, not in the 
words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which 
the Holy Ghost teacheth : comparing spiritual 
things with spiritual. 

14 But the natural man receiveth noj: the 
things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolish- 
ness unto him : neither can he know them, be- 
cause they are spiritually discerned. 

15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, 
yet he himself is judged of no man. 

16 For who hath known the mind of the 
Lord, that he may instruct him ? But we have 
the mind of Christ. 



Jesus teaches that the Holy Ghost does not add a new verse to the re- 
vealed will of God, but takes the Word of God already existing, and gives 
a clearness and distinctness to it hitherto unknown. This is also Paul's 
teaching in this chapter. " The Romanist looks to the Pope to interpret the 
Bible; the Tractarian looks to the Church to interpret it; the Socinian looks 
to reason to interpret it ; the Christian looks to the Holy Ghost to explain 
and interpret the Bible to him." — Cwnrning. 

"These revealed truths cannot be seen by the eye, heard by the ear, or 
guessed by the heart ; they are visible, audible, imaginable, only to the spirit. 
By the spiritually prepared they are recognized as beautiful, though they 
be folly to all the world beside." — F. W. Robertson. 

" What a person has experienced within cannot be argued out." — 
Heubncr. 

Closet Promise. — For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in 
God. — Col. iii. 3. 



Into my closet, fleeing as the dove 

Doth homeward flee, 
I ha.ste away to ponder o'er Thy love. 

Alone with Thee. 



In the dim woods, by human ear unheard, 

Joyous and free. 
Lord, I adore Thee, feasting on Thy word, 

Alone with Thee. 



490 



THIRTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



Amid the busy city; thronged and gay, 

But One I see ; 
Tasting sweet peace as unobserved I pray 

Alone with Thee. 



O sweetest life— life hid with Christ in God, 

So making me, 
At home, and by the wayside, and abroad, 

Alone with Thee. 

—Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss. 



FRIDAY. 

The Tabernacle.— Ex. xl. 17-38. 



17 ^ And it came to pass in the first month 
in the second year, on the first day of the month, 
that the tabernacle was reared up. 

18 And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and 
fastened his sockets, and set up the boards 
thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared 
up his pillars. 

19 And he spread abroad the tent over the 
tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent 
above upon it ; as the Lord commanded Moses. 

20 Tl And he took and put the testimony into 
the. ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put 
the mercy seat above upon the ark : 

2 1 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, 
and set up the vail of the covering, and covered 
the ark of the testimony ; as the Lord com- 
manded Moses. 

22 ][ And he put the table in the tent of the 
congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle 
northward, without the vail. 

23 And he set the bread in order upon it be- 
fore the Lord ; as the Lord had commanded 
Moses. 

24 ^ And he put the candlestick in the tent 
of the congregation, over against the table, on 
the side of the tabernacle southward. 

25 And he lighted the lamps before the 
Lord : as the Lord commanded Moses. 

26 ^ And he put the golden altar in the tent 
of the congregation before the vail : 

27 And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the 
Lord commanded Moses. 

28 T[ And he set up.the hanging at the door 
of the tabernacle. 

29 And he put the altar of burnt offering by 



the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the con- 
gregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering 
and the meat offering; as the LoRD commanded 
Moses. 

30 ^ And he set the laver between the tent 
of the congregation and the altar, and put water 
there, to wash withal. 

31 And Moses and Aaron and his sons 
washed their hands and their feet thereat : 

32 When they went into the tent of the con- 
gregation, and when they came near unto the 
altar, they washed ; as the Lord commanded 
Moses. 

33 And he reared up the court round about 
the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the 
hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished 
the work. 

34 ^ Then a cloud covered the tent of the 
congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled 
the tabernacle. 

35 And Moses was not able to enter into the 
tent of the congregation, because the cloud 
abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled 
the tabernacle. 

36 And when the cloud was taken up from 
over the tabernacle, the children of Israel. went 
onward in all their journeys : 

37 But if the cloud were not taken up, then 
they journeyed not till the day that it was taken 
up. 

38 For the cloud of the Lord was upon the 
tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, 
in the sight of all the house of Israel, through- 
out all their journeys. 



The Epistle to the Hebrews is the Holy Ghost's commentary on the 
tabernacle and its services. Everything about the tabernacle pointed to 
Jesus Christ. The truth that God dwells with His people, which was in the 
tabernacle in symbol, was in Christ in reality. His name is " Emanuel — 
God with us; "and the evangelist, with perhaps a reference to this very 
symbol, has said, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt " — literally, "taber- 
nacled " — " among us, and we beheld His glory." Each church should be 
a tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, the centre of worship, the place of sacrifice, 
the means of making known the true God, 




JESUS BEFORE PILATE. 

And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the Man!— /o/^w xix. 5. 

491 



FRIDAY. 493 

Each home should be a tabernacle where God abides, as Jesus in the 
house of Mary and Martha and Lazarus; where God is worshipped and 
honored and loved. 

Each heart should be a tabernacle of the Holy Ghost. And in the dedi- 
cation of the tabernacle by Moses, God has given us a wonderful symbol of 
the transaction between Him and ourselves, by which He comes into our 
hearts. The question may be asked, " What did Moses do to induce the 
Lord to come in and upon the tabernacle ? " Nothing. The blood cleansed 
it for His occupancy, and the Lord needed no inducement to occupy it. 
Moses simply did what the Lord commanded him to do, set the tabernacle 
apart to the Lord, offered the offerings, and left it to Him. This done, the 
Lord, of His own free will, came in and upon it and there abode. The 
Lord needs no inducement to take entire possession of us. All we have to 
do is to give ourselves wholly up to Him and let Him have us without 
reserve, and He will quickly take us as His own. 

Closet Promise. — And the Lord shall guide thee continually. — Isa. 
Iviii. II. 



' Thy way, not mine, O Lord ! 

However dark it be ; 
Lead me by Thine own hand ; 
Choose out the path for me ; 



' I dare not choose my lot ; 
I would not if I might ; 
Choose Thou for me, my God ! 
So I shall walk aright." 



When perplexed as to duty, cowed down as to any of life's sorrows, rebel- 
lious as to disappointed hopes, defeated purposes, irremediable losses, or 
thwarted desires, may the image of the great Burderf-bearer in Gethsemane 
rise before the mind, strengthen and quiet the heart. If thorns in the flesh 
are extracted, grace sufficient will be granted to so endure as that larger 
blessing shall accrue to the sufferer and greater glory to him. The forma- 
tion of the Christ-image then demands in us a willing denial of will. By 
the example and grace of Christ we will in the dark and cloudy day or in 
the clear shining say : " Not as I will, but as Thou wilt." — Rev. William M. 
Campbell. 



SATURDAY. 

Anchored. — Heb. vi. 13-20. 



13 For when God made promise to Abra- 
ham, because he could swear by no greater, he 
sware by himself, 

14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, 
and multiplying I will multiply thee. 

15 And so, after he had patiently endured, 
he obtained the promise. 



16 For men verily swear by the greater: and 
an oath for confirmation is to them an end of 
all strife. 

17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly 
to shew unto the heirs of promise the immuta- 
bility of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath : 

18 That by two immutable things, in which 



494 THIRTY -EniHTH WEEK. 

it was impossible for God to lie, we might have I soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth 

a strong cunsolation, who have fled for refuge into that within the vail ; 

to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, 

19 Which /wi>e we have as an anchor of the even Jesus, made a high priest for ever after the 

' order of Melchisedec. 

Our life requires many ways of using God. In the nineteenth verse there 
is a use of God for extremities, just as an anchor is used for extremities. 
" It lies on the bow of the ship, quite useless through days, and weeks, and 
months it may be. It is only relied upon when the winter wind sings in 
the air with threat of danger and when there is darkness on the sea in the 
night. There are also extremities of life when the soul can hold by nothing 
else but some such hope as this in God. Times when, storm-tossed, it can 
only say, ' I anchor upon God.' " 

The ground of our anchorage is sure. "That by two immutable things, 
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consola- 
tion, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." 

" We may depend upon Him, for His arm is never dried up, nor does His 
strength fail. There is no wrinkle upon the brow of Eternity. God is where 
He was at first ; He continues for ever a God of infinite power, able to save 
those that trust in Him." — Manton. 

Closet Promise. — Which hope we have as an anchor 01 the soul, both 
sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. — Heb. vi. 19. 

I have been enabled to commit my soul to Him who says : " Him that 
cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out," and Who is "able to save to the 
uttermost." These two texts have been as sheet anchors by which my soul 
has outridden many a storm when otherwise hope would have failed. " In 
no wise" takes in all characters, and "to the uttermost" goes many a league 
beyond all difficulties. I recommend these anchors • they are sure and 
steadfast. — John Newton. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever 
ye do, do all to the glory of God. — I Cor. x. 31. 

"Weekly Proverb. — He that cannot obey, cannot command. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— OLD TESTAMENT PARABLES. 

Sunday. — Jehoash — The Thistle and Cedar. — 2 Kings xiv. 1-14. 
Monday. — Isaiah — Vineyard of Wild Grapes. — Isa. v. 1-7. 



THE CHIIvDREN'vS CORNER. 



495 



Tuesday. — Ezekiel — Lion's Whelps. — Ezek. xix. 1-9. 
Wednesday. — Ezekiel — The Wasted Vine. — Ezek. xix. 10-14. 
Thursday. — Ezekiel — The Boiling Pot. — Ezek. xxiv. 1-14. 
Friday. — Ezekiel — Two Eagles and a Vine. — Ezek. xvii. 1-24. 
Saturday. — Ezekiel — The Two Sticks. — Ezek. xxxvii. 15-28. 



THE SONG OF THE CORN. 



I was made to be eaten. 
And not to be drank ; 

To be thrashed in a barn. 
Not soaked in a tank. 

I come as a blessing 
When put in a mill, 

As a blight and a curse 
Wlien run through a still. 

Make me up into loaves, 
And your children are fed 



But if into a drink 

I will starve them instead. 

In bread I'm a servant, 

The eater shall rule ; 
In drink I am master, 

The drinker a fool. 

Then remember the warning — 

My strength I'll employ, 
If eaten to strengthen, 

If drunk to destroy. 

— Christian at Work. 



Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old 
man. — Lev. xix. 32. 

The Germans have a story about a little girl named Jeannette, who once 
went out to see a grand review. She found a splendid place from which to 
see the soldiers pass, when she noticed a poor old woman in the crowd try- 
ing very hard to get where she could see. Jeannette said to herself, " I 
should like to see the soldiers march ; but it isn't kind in me to stay in this 
nice seat and let that old woman stay where she can't see anything. I 
ought to honor old age, and I will." So she called the old woman, and, 
placing her in her nice seat, fell back among the crowd. There she had to 
tiptoe, and peep, and dodge about, to catch a glimpse of the splendid scene, 
which she might have seen fully and easily if she had kept her place. Some 
of the people said she was a silly girl and laughed at her. Jeannette was 
rewarded in her heart for her kindne.ss to old age. A few minutes later a 
man, covered with lace, elbowed his way through the crowd and said to 
her, " Little girl, will you come to her ladyship?" She could not imagine 
who her ladyship was, but she followed the man to a high platform. A lady 
met her at the top of the stairs, and said, " My dear child, I saw you yield 
your seat to the old woman. You acted nobly. Now sit down by me, 
where you can see everything." So Jeannette was rewarded a second time 
for honoring old age. 



THIRTY-NINTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the 
breastplate of righteousness — Eph. vi. 14. 



Heed how thou livest. Do no act by day 
Which from the night shall drive thy peace 

away. 
In months of sun so live that months of rain 



Shall still be happy. Evermore restrain 
Evil and cherish good, so shall there be 
Another and a happier life for thee. 

—Selected. 



I am more afraid of my own heart than of the Pope and all his cardinals. 
I have within me the great Pope, self. — Luther. 

Every man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day 
comes when he begins to care that he do not cheat his neighbor. Then 
all goes well. He has changed his market cart into a chariot of the sun. — 
Selected. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 
SUNDAY. 



Reproach. — i 

12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning 
the fiery trial which is to try you, as though 
some strange thing happened unto you : 

13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers 
of Christ's sufferings ; that when his glory shall 
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding 
joy. 

14 If ye be reproached for the name of 
Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of glory and 
of God resteth upon you : on their part he is 
evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, 
or as a thief, or as an evil doer, or as a busy- 
body in other men's matters. 



Pet. 



12-19. 



16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let 
him not be ashamed ; but let him glorify God 
on this behalf. 

1 7 For the time is come that judgment must 
begin at the house of God : and if it first begin 
at us, what shall the end be of them that obey 
not the gospel of God ? 

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, 
where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ? 

19 Wherefore, let them that suffer according 
to the will of God commit the keeping of their 
souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful 
Creator. 



" Religion is no ignominious, disgraceful thing. And yet Satan labors to 
cast all the odium and reproach upon it that he can ; that it is devout frenzy, 
folly ingrain. As for this sect, we know that it is everywhere spoken 
against. But wise men measure things by the end ; what is the end of a 
religious Hfe? It ends in a kingdom. Would a prince regard the fightings 
of a few frantics when he is going to be crowned ? You who are beginners, 
bind their reproaches as a crown about your head, despise their censures as" 
much as their praise ; a kingdom is a-coming." — Watson. 
(496) 



SUNDAY. 497 

" The fire of trial belongs to Christianity, it is the rule, not the exception." 

Richter. 

" Partners in the fight, partners in the coronation. As surely as thou art 
suffering for Christ's sake, so surely thou wilt be eternally clothed v.'ith joy 
and glory." — Starke. 

" I have observed that towns which have been casually burnt, have been 
built again more beautiful than before. Mud walls, afterwards made of 
stones ; and roofs, formerly but thatched after advanced to be tiled. The 
Apostle tells me that I must not think it strange concerning the fiery trial 
which is to happen unto me. May I likewise prove improved by it. Let 
my renewed soul, which grows out of the ashes of the old man, be a more 
firm fabric and strong structure, so shall affliction be my advantage." — 
Fuller. 

Closet Promise. — I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me. — 
Isa. xlv. 5. 

Let it fill you with cheerfulness and exalted feeling, however deep in ob- 
scurity your lot may be, to know that God is leading you on, girding you 
for a work, preparing you to a good that is worthy of His divine magnifi- 
cence. — Horace Bushnell. 

MONDAY. 

Christ's Kingdom. — Isa. ii. 1-5. 



1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw 
concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 

2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
that the mountain of the Lord's house shall 
be established in the top of the mountains, and 
shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations 
shall flow unto it. 

3 And many people shall go and say, Come 
ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the 
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and 
he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk 



in his paths : for out of Zion shall go forth the 
law, and the word of the Lord from Jeru- 
salem. 

4 And he shall judge among the nations, and 
shall rebuke many people : and they shall beat 
their swords into ploughshares, and their spears 
into pruninghooks : nation shall not lift up 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn 
war any more. 

5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk 
in the light of the Lord. 



This is a prophecy of that period when the Messiah shall reign, and peace, 
prosperity, and purity shall prevail. 

In verse 5, the prophet exhorts : " Come ye, and let us walk in the light of 
the Lord." The first result of this zvalking in the light of the Lord will be 
fellowship. But there can be no fellowship without cleansing. For how 
" can two walk together, except they be agreed ? " And sin is the one 
great obstacle to this agreement. 

" God never makes peace with sin. No armistice, no truce, no compromise 



498 



THIRTY-NINTH WEEJK. 



is possible ! If you would read through Jeremiah or Ezekiel with your 
eyes open to observe what God thinks of sin, you would be perfectly startled. 
It leaves the impression that no language can convey His indignant loathing 
of this ' abominable thing which I hate.' But this one precious promise shows 
it all in a moment. ' The blood of Jesus Christ His Son ;;leanseth us from 
all sin ! ' If anything less than the blood of His own Son could have 
cleansed us, would He not have spared Him ? Nothing shows us the ex- 
ceeding sinfulness of sin like this one word. But oh, thank God for the 
' all ! ' As nothing less than the blood of Christ is needed for one single 
sin, so nothing more is needed for all sin. Ask the Holy Spirit to open out 
this one word to you." — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness : I 
shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness. — Psalm xvii. 15. 



' Under the grand green palms of heaven 

I yet shall walk, 
With the good and the wise of the ages past 

Shall some day talk. 

' I shall lay my cross at the gate of pearl 
And take my crown, , 



And then at the shining feet of my Lord 
Shall cast it down. 

" If He smile upon me, my soul may faint 
With excess of bliss ; 
For the glorious King of that happy world 
• Is the Christ of this." 



TUESDAY. 

Three Psalms of Holy Confidence. — Psalms cxxiii., cxxiv., cxxv. 



1 Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that 
dwellest in the heavens. 

2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto 
the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a 
maiden unto the hand of her mistress ; so our 
eyes wait upon the I.ORD our God, until that he 
have mercy upon us. 

3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy 
upon us : for we are exceedingly filled with 
contempt. 

4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the 
scorning of those that are at ease, and with the 
contempt of the proud. 



1 If // had not been the Lord who was on 
our side, now may Israel say ; 

2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our 
side, when men rose up against us : 

3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, 
when their wrath was kindled against us : 

4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the 
stream had gone over our soul : 

5 Then the proud waters had gone over our 



6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given 
us as a prey to their teeth. 

7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the 
snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and 
we are escaped. 

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who 
made heaven and earth. 



1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as 
mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but 
abideth for ever. 

2 As the mountains are round about Jerusa- 
lem, so the Lord is round about his f)eople 
from henceforth even for ever. 

3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest 
upon the lot of the righteous ; lest the righteous 
put forth their hands unto iniquity. 

4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, 
and to them that are upright in their hearts. 

5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked 
ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the 
workers of iniquity : but peace shall be upon 
Israel. 



TUESDAY. 499 

The key-note of this reading is verse 2 of Psalm cxxv. The hill of Zion 
is the type of the believer's constancy, and the surrounding mountains are 
made emblems of the all-surrounding presence of the Lord. 

" The mountains around the holy city, though they do not make a cir- 
cular wall, are, nevertheless, set like sentinels to guard her gates. God 
doth not enclose His people within ramparts and bulwarks, making their 
city to be a prison ; but yet He so orders the arrangements of His 
providence that His saints are as safe as if they dwelt behind the strongest 
fortifications. What a double security the two verses set before us ! First, 
we are established, and then entrenched ; settled, and then sentinelled ; made 
like a mount, and then protected as if by mountains. This is no matter of 
poetry, it is so in fact; and it is no matter of temporary privilege, but it shall 
be so for ever." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" How are the mountains round about Jerusalem ? Are they there to- 
day, and gone to-morrow ? Are they there in sunshine, but do they forsake 
Jerusalem when it storms ? Are they there when all eyes see them, but 
gone when night makes them invisible ? 

" You exclaim, ' What foolish questions ? ' But if the ' as ' and ' so ' in 
this verse are true, and if the Lord really is round about His people as the 
mountains are round about Jerusalem, the things many Christians think and 
say are far more foolish. Did none of you ever think in time of trouble and 
darkness that the Lord had forsaken you ? 

" It is an unchangeable fact that the mountains are round about Jerusa- 
lem, whether any one sees them or not ; and it is equally an unchangeable 
fact that God is always round about us ' from henceforth even for ever,' 
whether we see and feel Him or not. Let us believe it." — Selected. 

Closet Promise. — Thou art my refuge and my portion. — Psalm cxlii. 5. 



Thou Refuge of my soul, 
On Thee, when sorrows rise, 

On Thee, when waves of trouble roll, 
My fainting hope relies. 

To Thee I tell my grief. 
For Thou alone canst heal ; 

Thy Word can bring a sweet relief 
For every pain I feel. 



But O when doubts prevail, 

I fear to call Thee mine ; 
The springs of comfort seem to fail, 

And all my hopes decline. 

Yet, Lord, where shall I flee ? 

Thou art my only trust ; 
And still my soul would cleave to Thee, 

Though prostrate in the dust. 

— Anne Steele. 



WEDNESDAY- 
TRADING FOR Christ.— Luke xix. 1-27. 

1 And Jesus entered and passed through I cheus, which was the chief among the publicans, 
Jericho. I and he was rich. 

2 And, behold, there was a man named Zac- | 3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was • 



500 



THIRTY-NINTH WEBK. 



and could not for the press, because he was 
little of stature. 

4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a 
sycamore tree to see him ; for he was to pass 
that way. 

5 And when Jesus came to the place, he 
looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, 
Zaccheus, make haste, and come down ; for to 
day I must abide at thy house. 

6 And he made haste, and came down, and 
received him joyfully. 

7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, 
saying. That he was gone to be guest with a 
man that is a sinner. 

8 And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the 
Lord ; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I 
give to the poor ; and if I have taken any thing 
from any man by false accusation, I restore him 
fourfold. 

9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is sal- 
vation come to this house, forasmuch as he also 
is a son of Abraham. 

10 For the Son of man is come to seek and 
to save that which was lost. 

1 1 And as they heard these things, he added 
and spake a parable, because he was nigh to 
Jerusalem, and because they thought that the 
kingdom of God should immediately appear. 

12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman 
went into a far country to receive for himself a 
kingdom, and to return. 

13 And he called his ten servants, and deliv- 
ered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Oc- 
cupy till I come. 

14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a 
message after him, saying. We will not have this 
man to reign over us. 

15 And it came to pass, that when he was 
returned, having received the kingdom, then he 



commanded these servants to be called unto 
him, to whom he had given the money, that he 
might know how much every man had gained 
by trading. 

16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy 
pound hath gained ten pounds. 

17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good 
servant : because thou hast been faithful in a 
very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 

18 And the second came, saying. Lord, thy 
pound hath gained five pounds. 

19 And he said likewise to him. Be thou also 
over five cities. 

20 And another came, saying. Lord, behold, 
here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in 
a napkin : 

21 For I feared thee, because thou art an 
austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst 
not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 

22 And he saith unto him. Out of thine own 
mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. 
Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking 
up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did 
not sow : 

23 Wherefore then'gavest not thou my money 
into the bank, that at my coming I might have 
required mine own with usury ? 

24 And he said unto them that stood by, 
Take from him the pound, and give zV to hini 
that hath ten pounds. 

25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ' 
ten pounds.) 

26 For I say unto you. That unto every one 
which hath shall be given ; and from him that 
hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away 
from him. 

27 But those mine enemies, which would not 
that I should reign over them, bring hither, and 
slay them before me. 



We must not overlook the opening part of to-day's lesson. In the con- 
version of Zaccheus we have an illustration of the seeker sought. Zaccheus 
sougJit to see ]&s\xs; ]&sViS finds Zaccheus. Jesus finds the sinner. A Chi- 
naman applied to a minister to be allowed to join his church. The minister 
asked him some questions to find out whether he understood what it is to 
be a Christian, and how we are to be saved. Among other things he asked 
him : " How did you find Jesus ? " In his broken English the poor man 
replied : " Me no find Jesus at all. Jesus him find me." 

" Occupy till I come." That is, " Trade ye herewith till I come." The 
Lord gives every man a fair start in this traffic of the kingdom, and all 
obligations are paid. The Lord backs all the just and legal promissory 
notes of his merchantmen. " I am with you." The Christian trader has 
influential partnership. " Co-workers with God." In this business nothing 
succeeds like success. His talents — are we improving them ? 




PETER DENIES CHRIST. 

Art not thou also one of this man's disciples ? He saith, I am not. — John xviii. 17. 

502 



WEDNESDAY. 



503 



"There is a principle in this award which regulates God's dealings with 
us in either world. And it is this : the ground and secret of all increase is 
'faithfulness.' And we may all rejoice that this is the rule of God's moral 
gifts ; for had anything except ' faithfulness ' been made the condition, many 
would have been unable, or, at least, would have thought themselves unable, 
to advance at all." — y. Vaughn. 

Closet Promise. — And he said unto him. Well, thou good servant : 
because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten 
cities. — Luke xix. 17. 



The smallest thing thou canst accomplish well ; 
The smallest, ill. 'Tis only little things 
Make up the present day, make up all days, 
Make up thy life. Do thou not therefore wait, 



Keepinj^ thy wisdom and thy honesty 
Till great things come with trumpet heraldings. 
— 7'he Layman's Breviary. 



THURSDAY. 

The Unrevived.— Micah vii. 



1 Woe is me ! for I am as when they have 
gathered the summer fruits, as the grape glean- 
ings of the vintage ; there is no cluster to eat : 
my soul desired the first ripe fruit. 

2 The good man is perished out of the 
earth ; and there is none upright among men : 
they all lie in wait for blood ; they hunt every 
man his brother with a net. 

3 ^ That they may do evil with both hands 
earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge ask- 
eth for a reward ; and the great man, he ut- 
tereth his mischievous desire : so they wrap 
it up. 

4 The best of them is as a brier : the most 
upright is sharper than a thorn hedge : the day 
of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; 
now shall be their perplexity. 

5 ^ Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not con- 
fidence in a guide : keep the doors of thy mouth 
from her that lieth in thy bosom. 

6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the 
daughter riseth up against her mother, the 
daughter in law against her mother in law ; a 
man's enemies are the .men of his own house. 

7 Therefore I will look unto the Lord ; I 
will wait for the God of my salvation : my God 
will hear me. 

8 \ Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy : 
v,-hen I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in dark- 
ness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. 

9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord, 
because I have sinned against him, until he 
plead my cause, and execute judgment for me; 
he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall 
behold his righteousness. 



10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, 
and shame shall cover her which said unto me, 
Where is the Lord thy God ? mine eyes shall 
behold her : now shall she be trodden down as 
the mire of the streets. 

11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, 
in that day shall the decree be far removed. 

12 In that day also he shall come even to 
thee from Assyria and from the fortified cities, 
and from the fortress even to the river, and 
from sea to sea, and from mountain to moun- 
tain. 

13 Notwithstanding, the land shall be deso- 
late because of them that dwell therein, for the 
fruit of their doings. 

14 \ Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock 
of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the 
wood, in the midst of Carmel : let them feed in 
Ba^han and Gilead, as in the days of old. 

15 According to the days of thy coming out 
of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him 
marvellous thirigs. 

16 \ The nations shall see and be confounded 
at all their might : they shall lay their hand 
upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 

17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, 
they shall move out of their holes like worms 
of the earth : they shall he afraid of the LoRD 
our God, and shall fear because of thee. 

18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardon- 
elh iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of 
the remnant of his heritage ? he retaineth not 
his anger for ever, because he delighteth in 
mercy. 

19 He will turn again, he will have compas- 



504 THIRTY-NINTH WEEK. 

sion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; I 20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, aHi/ 
and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn 
of the sea. | unto our fathers from the days of old. 

The imagery of the first verse is exceedingly vivid and suggestive. The 
picture before the eye of the prophet is that of famine in the midst of plenty. 
The time for ingathering is at hand. " The summer fruits " have ripened 
under the golden sunshine ; the " vintage " groans under the weight of the 
clusters. And yet Israel had no appreciation of the golden fruit, no heart 
or no capacity to pluck and eat the ripe clusters. Without were sunshine, 
plenty, gladness, and abundant fruitage; but within were darkness, want, 
sadness and spiritual desolation ! Practically it was as if there had been no 
summer fruits, and no vintage ; nay, it was worse ; it was only a mockery — 
just as the sight of food is mockery to a hungry man who has lost the 
capacity to swallow or his relish for food. 

And this is a truthful representation of the experience of many to-day. 
God comes to them in gracious spiritual manifestations ; but so dull are 
their spiritual perceptions, so vitiated are their tastes, so surfeited are they 
with the " apples of Sodom " and the wild grapes of sinful indulgence that 
they know it not, and feel no hungering after righteousness ; " there is no 
cluster" in all God's vintage which they can "eat." 

Micah closes this book by a thanksgiving for God's pardoning mercy 
(verses 18-20). The soul which is truly penitent never wearies of the won- 
dering love, *' Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and 
passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth 
not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy." "And thou wilt 
cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Not some, but all. 

" So that, as in the passage of the Red Sea there was not one Egyptian 
left of those who pursued His people, so neither shall there be one sin, . 
which, through Baptism and on Repentance, shall not through His free 
mercy be pardoned. As they which sank as lead in the mighty waters never 
rose again, so shall the sins, unless revived by us, not rise against us to con- 
demnation, but shall in the Day of Judgment be sunk in the abyss of hell, 
as if they had never been." — E. B. Pusey, D.D. 

Closet Promise. — Call upon Me in the day of trouble : I will deliver 
thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. — Psalm 1. 15. 

" If you are sick, you leave it to your physician to order your case. If 
your affairs are perplexed, and you have a plea at law, you leave it to your 
lawyer. And when you have a process at the Court of heaven, will you 
not leave it to your God? You are little competent judges of what glory 



THURSDAY. 



iOS 



God can have by such and such a management. God can raise glory to 
Himself where you can see nothing but dishonor to Him, and He will have 
glory ; ' for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom 
be glory forever.' Believe that and leave the way of raising it to Himself. 
The seed of glory to God in Job's trial, neither he nor his friends generally 
saw for a long time, yet it sprung up at length and flourishes to this day." 



FRIDAY. 

The Miracle at the Beautiful Gate. — Acts iii. i-i 



1 Now Peter and John went up together into 
the temple at the hour of prayer, being the 
ninth hour. 

2 And a certain man lame from his mother's 
womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the 
gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to 
ask alms of them that entered into the temple : 

3 Who, seeing Peter and John about to go 
into the temple, asked an alms. 

4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him 
with John, said, Look on us. 

5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to 
receive something of them. 

6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I 
none ; but such as 1 have give I thee : In the 
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and 
walk. 



7 And he took him by the right hand, and 
lifted him up : and immediately his feet and 
ankle bones received strength. 

8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and 
entered with them into the temple, walking, 
and leaping, and praising God. 

9 And all the people saw him walking and 
praising God : 

10 And they knew that it was he which sat 
for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple : 
and they were filled with wonder and amaze- 
ment at that which had happened unto him. 

1 1 And as the lame man which was healed 
held Peter and John, all the people ran to- 
gether unto them in the porch that is called 
Solomon's, greatly wondering. 



Peter and John went up together into the temple "at the hour of prayer!' 
The Pentecostal fire of yesterday never does away with the necessity of 
" the hour of prayer " to-day. Times of revival must be followed by zeal 
and devotion, or the ingathering will amount to little. 

" Peter said, Silver and gold have I none." Then a child of God may be 
poor — have no bank account. But the power that lifts and heals a crippled 
world, is not to be found in men's pocket-books. "Rise up and ivalk " — 
that was their power. And that is the power which the Church needs, and 
for which the -world fastens its eyes upon her. 

" The man sought alms, which the apostles could not give ; but they gave 
him that which was immeasurably better — the ability to earn money, and 
be evermore independent of alms. Health without money is infinitely better 
than money without health. In giving the greater blessing they gave the 
less. The gospel does not aim directly at improving men's circumstances ; 
it aims at improving men, and the improvement in circumstances follows as 
a matter of course. It is vastly better to make men good than to do them 
good."— i?. R. Meredith, D. D. 



506 



THIRTY- NINTH WEEK, 



Closet Promise. — Ye people, pour out your heart before Him : God is 
a refuge for us. — Psalm Ixii. 8. 

Whatsoever it is that presses thee, go tell thy Father ; put over the 
matter into His hand, and so thou shalt be freed from that dividing, per- 
plexing care that the world is full of When thou art either to do or suffer 
anything, when thou art about any purpose or business, go tell God of it, 
and acquaint Him with it; yea, burden Him with it, and thou hast done for 
matter of caring ; no more care, but quiet, sweet diligence in thy duty, and 
dependence on Him for the carriage of thy matters. Roll thy cares, and 
thyself with them, as one burden, all on thy God. — R. Leighton. 



SATUKDAY. 

Answered Prayer. — Acts iv. 18-37. 



18 And they called them, and commanded 
them not to speak at all nor teach in the name 
of Jesus. 

19 But Peter and John answered and said 
unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of 
God to hearken unto you more than unto God, 
judge ye. 

20 For we cannot but speak the things which 
we have seen and heard. 

21 So when they had further threatened 
them, they let them go, finding nothing how 
they might punish them because of the people ; 
for all vieii glorified God for that which was 
done. 

22 For the man was above forty years gld, on 
whom this miracle of healing was shewed. 

23 ^ And being let go, they went to their own 
company, and reported all that the chief priests 
and elders had said unto them. 

24 And when they heard that, they lifted up 
their voice to God with one accord, and said. 
Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, 
and earth, and the sea, and all that in them 
is; 

25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David 
hast said. Why did the heathen rage, and the 
people imagine vain things ? 

26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the 
rulers were gathered together against the Lord, 
and against his Christ. 

27 For of a truth against thy holy child 
Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, 
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the 
people of Israel, were gathered together. 



28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy 
counsel determined before to be done. 

29 And now, Lord, behold their threaten- 
ings ; and grant unto thy servants, that with all 
boldness they may speak thy word, 

30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal ; 
and that signs and wonders may be done by the 
name of thy holy child Jesus. 

31 And when they had prayed, the place 
was shaken where they were assembled to- 
gether : and they were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost, and they spake the word of God with 
boldness. 

32 And the multitude of them that believed 
were of one heart and of one soul : neither 
said any of theju that aught of the things which 
he possessed was his own ; but they had all 
things common. 

33 And with great power gave the apostles 
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus : 
and great grace was upon them all. 

34 Neither was there any among them that 
lacked : for as many as were possessors of 
lands or houses sold them, and brought the 
prices of the things that were sold, 

35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet : 
and distribution was made unto every man 
according as he had need. 

36 And Joses, who by the apostles was sur- 
named Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, 
The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the 
country of Cyprus, 

37 Having land, sold //, and brought the 
money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 



The example of the apostles here is worthy of all acceptation and the 
imitation of all. There is no probability that we shall ever be called to stand 
as these apostles stood, before an earthly tribunal, and be forbidden to .speak 



SATURDAY. 507 

at all in the name of Jesus. But our fidelity will be tested in other ways 
not less decisive. In a thousand ways the demands of the world and the 
voice of public opinion is contrary to the will of God. In society, in busi- 
ness, at home, many -a one in many ways is called to face a prohibition like 
that laid upon Peter and John. We learn from the example before us what 
we ought to be able to answer in such cases ; what we ought to be able to 
act upon in the face of such prohibition. There is a tribunal below ; and there 
is another tribunal above. These are contrary, the one to the other, so that 
he who would obey both cannot. The one is human and temporal ; the 
other is Divine and eternal. Who can for one moment doubt which of the 
two we ought to live for ? 

The moment was felt to be critical for the infant Church. What was the 
effect of all this ? Was anything said of forsaking Christ and fleeing, as 
they had done when He was Himself led to His trial ? Was it proposed to 
enter into any compromise, such as that of leaving the city, and carrying 
their new doctrine among the Gentiles ? None of these things. Listen — 
"And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to God with one 
accord." They made their appeal to God in their peril, called to Him in 
their difficulty, confided to Him their anxieties and distresses. The purport 
of their prayer was, not that the Lord would stop their malice, and silence 
all their opposition ; this they sought not to avoid. But the single prayer 
was, that their souls might be animated to go on, let the malice of their foes 
manifest itself as it might. In answer, "the place was shaken." As if the 
Lord had said, " He that shakes the place, can make your enemies' hearts 
tremble." And so it proved. 

" Now, my soul, take thine improvement from it. Jesus sees all, knows 
all, hears all, as well of thine exercises as of thine enemies' attempts upon 
thee. Carry all complaints, therefore, to Him." — Robert Hawker, D.D. 

Closet Promise, — If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven 
give good things to them that ask Him. — Matt. vii. li. 

Whatsoever we ask which is not for our good. He will keep it back from 
us. And surely in this there is no less of love than in the granting what 
we desire as we ought. Will not the same love which prompts you to give 
a good, prompt you to keep back an evil, thing ? If, in our blindness, not 
knowing what to ask, we pray for things which would turn in our hands to 
sorrow and death, will not our Father, out of His very love, deny us? How 
awful would be our lot, if our wishes should straightway pass into realities ; 
if we were endowed with a power to bring about all that we desire ; if 



508 THIRTY-NINTH WEEK. 

the inclinations of our will were followed by fulfilment of our hasty wishes, 
and sudden longings were always granted. One day we shall bless Him, 
not more for what He has granted than for what He has denied. — H. E. 
Manning. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Freely ye have received, freely give. — Matt. x. 8. 
Weekly Proverb. — A fool may make money; but it needs a wise man 
to spend it. — English. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SEVEN TRUMPETS. 

Sunday. — Law. — Ex. xix. 16-25. 

Monday. — Gathering. — Num. x. 1-4. 

Tuesday. — Journeying. — Num. x. 5-8. 

Wednesday. — Victory. — Josh. vi. 1-27. 

Thursday. — Joy. — Num. x. 10 ; Psa. xcviii. 1-9. 

Friday. — Warning. — Ezek. xxxiii. 1-16. 

Saturday. — Christ's Coming. — i Cor. xv. 50-58; i Thess, iv. 13-18. 



THE REASON WHY. 



" When I was at the party," 

Said Betty (age just four), 
"A little girl fell off her chair, 

Right down upon the floor; 
And all the other little girls 

Began to laugh, but me — 
I didn't laugh a single bit," 

Said Betty, seriously. 



" Why not ? " her mother asked her, 

Full of delight to find 
That Betty— bless her little heart ! 

Had been so sweetly kind. 
" Why didn't j'ozc laugh, darling ? 

Or don't you like to tell ? " 
" I didn't laugh," said Betty, 
" 'Cause it was me that fell ! " 
— Mary E. Bradley, in "St. Nicholas^ 



DAISIES AND STARS. 



The stars are tiny daisies high, 
Opening and shutting in the sky, 
While daisies are the stars below, 
Twinkling and sparkling as they grow. 



The star-buds blossom in the night, 
And love the moon's calm tender light; 
But daisies bloom out in the day, 
And watch the strong sun in its way. 

— Seleclca. 



In everything give thanks. — i Thess. v. 18. 

My little friends, did you ever stop to think how much you have to be 
thankful for ? I heard of a little boy, who was very good at arithmetic ; 
so one day he thought he would try to reckon up how much God did for him 
in one year. He took his slate and pencil and began. " Let me see," said 
he, " 365 days ; that makes 365 mercies. But every hour has been a 
mercy ; that is 8760 mercies. But the minutes too; that is, 525,600 more. 



THK CHILDREN'S CORNER. 509 

Then there are my dear parents, who have been spared me — two more marks ; 
health preserved, another; food, another; teachers, books, cheerful com- 
panions, more still; the Bible — a broad big mark for that; Sabbaths, 52 
marks. Oh dear! I cannot reckon them — I keep thinking of more all the 
time; I must give it up." And I don't wonder he did, for even David felt 
it too much for him, for said he in the 139th Psalm, " If I should count 
them, they are more in number than the sand." Oh ! how much we ought to 
thank God. Our motto says, " In evoything give thanks." That means when 
things don't suit you, as well as when they do. A poor widow, not having 
bed-clothes to shelter her boy from the snow which was blown through the 
cracks of her hut, used to cover him with boards. One night, he said to 
her smilingly, " Ma, what do poor folks do these cold nights, that haven't 
any boards to put over their children ? " Wasn't that a thankful spirit ? 



WATT'S FIRST EXPERIMENT. 

James Watt was born in Greenock, Scotland, January 19, 1736. Many 
stories are told of his early turn for science. When he was six years of 
age, a gentleman, calling upon his father, observed the child bending over a 
marble hearth with a piece of colored chalk in his hand. " Mr. Watt," said 
he, "you ought to send that boy to school, and not allow him to trifle away 
his time at home." " Look how my child is occupied before you condemn 
him," replied the father. The gentleman observed that the boy had drawn 
mathematical lines and circles on the hearth, and was then marking in letters 
and figures the result of some calculation he was carrying on ; he put 
-various questions to him, and ended by remarking, "He is no common 
child." 

Sitting one evening with his aunt, Mrs. Muirhead, at the tea-table, she 
said : " James Watt, I never saw such an idle boy ; take a book, or employ 
yourself usefully. For the last hour, you have not spoken one word, but 
taken off the lid of that kettle and put it on again, holding now a cup and 
now a silver spoon over the steam." But James, pondering before that tea- 
kettle, will be viewed as the great engineer preparing for the discoveries 
which were to immortalize him. 

In St. Paul's Church, London, has been placed a slab inscribed to the 
memory of the architect. Sir Christopher Wren. On it are these words : 
" If you would see his monument, look around you." So would we say to 
dwellers in all lands, " If you would see the monument of James Watt, look 
around you." The mighty steam-engine, propelling the machinery of a 
thousand factories, and almost annihilating space, is a monument prouder 
than Parian marble could afford, and more lasting than pillars of brass. 

(510) 



FORTIETH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Arise, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee. — I Chron. xxii. l6. 



Make this forenoon sublime, 
This afternoon a psalm, this night a prayer, 
And Time is conquered, and thy Crown is won. 



—Selected. 



To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, 
to Hve the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. — Selected. 

Don't waste hfe in doubts and fears : spend yourself on the work before 
3'ou, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the 
best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it. — Selected. 

The proper time, the right time, the prosperous time, the good time, the 
favorable time, the sure time, the veiy time, the precise time, the successful 
time, the exact time, the golden time — any or all of these — may be said to 
be comprehended in the great Scriptural idea of " accepted time." And 
this time is now. — Selected. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Exile. — Psalm cxxxvii. 



> ■ I By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat 
down, yea, we wept, when we remembered 
Zion. 

2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in 
the midst thereof. 

3 For there they that carried us away captive 
required of us a song : and they that wasted us 
required of us mirth, saying. Sing us one of the 
songs of Zion. 

4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a 
strange land ? 

5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right 
hand forget her cunning. 



6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue 
cleave to the roof of my mouth ; if I prefer not 
Jerusalem above my chief joy. 

7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom 
in the day of Jerusalem ; who said. Rase ?'/, rase 
it, even to the foundation thereof. 

8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be de- 
stroyed ; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee 
as thou hast served us. 

9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth 
thy little ones against the stones. 



This plaintive ode is one of the most charming compositions in the whole 
Book of Psalms. " It is a fruit of the Captivity in Babylon, and often has 
it furnished expression for sorrows which else had been unutterable." 
"How shall we sing the Lords sojtg in a strange land? " Is it not true that, 
in many senses, we are like the Jewish exiles ? " The feelings of the present 
life are often adverse to praise. The exiles in Babylon could not sing 

(613) 



514 



FORTIETH WEEK. 



because they were in heaviness. God's hand was heavy upon them. He 
had a controversy with them for their sins. Now the feehngs of many of 
us are in hke manner adverse to the Lord's song. Some of us are in great 
sorrow. We have lost a friend; we are in anxiety about one who is all to 
us ; we know not which way to turn for to-morrow's bread or for this day's 
comfort. How can we sing the Lord's song ? 

"And there is another kind of sorrow, still more fatal, if it be possible, to 
the lively exercise of adoration. And that is, a weight and burden of unfor- 
given sin. Songs may be heard from the prison-cell of Philippi ; songs may 
be heard from the calm death-bed, or by the open grave ; but songs cannot 
be drawn forth from the soul on which the load of God's displeasure, real 
or imagined, is lying, or which is still powerless to apprehend the grace and 
the life for sinners which is in Christ Jesus. That, we imagine, was the 
difficulty which pressed upon the exile Israelite; that certainly is an impedi- 
ment now, in many, to the outburst of Christian praise." — C. jf. Vajighan. 



Closet Promise. - 

— Psalm cxii. 4. 



-Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. 



The dark hath many dear avails, 

The dark distils divinest dews ; 
The dark is rich with nightingales, 

With dreams, and with the heavenly M-use. 



Of fret, of dark, of thorn, of chill, 

Complain thou not, my heart, for these 
Bank in the current of the will. 

— Sidney Lanier. 



MONDAY. 

A Lesson in Parables. — Matt. 



31-35- 



31 \ Another parable put he forth unto them, 
saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain 
of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed 
in his field : 

32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds; 
but when it is grown, it is the greatest among 
herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of 
the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. 

33 ^ Another parable spake he unto them ; 
Tlie kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, 



which a woman took, and hid in three measures 
of meal, till the whole was leavened. 

34 All these things spake Jesus unto the 
multitude in parables; and without a parable 
spake he not unto them : 

35 That it might be fulfilled which v.'as 
spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my 
mouth in parables : I will utter things which 
have been kept secret from the foundation of 
the world. 



In these parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven we have a lesson 
taught that is too often overlooked — namely, that the Christian life is small 
in its beginning. 

" When a man begins to be a Christian he is like a seed that has just come 
up with two small, tender leaves. If you plant the seed of an apple, it does 
not come up a tree covered with fruit. You never saw an orchard, each 
tree of which, when it first came up, did not consist of two baby leaves. 
From these small beginnings came in after years the orchard. A Christian 



MONDAY 



515 



does not come up a full-grown Christian. He comes up with but two leaves 
at most, and sometimes with only one. The kingdom of God in man at first 
is so small that it is like a grain of mustard-seed, the smallest of all seeds. 
But the moment a man has had the first feelings consequent upon conver- 
sion, the moment he has begun to say, ' I accept God's will as the rule of 
my life, and I intend to live according to the counsels of Christ,' that moment 
he is a Christian. But he has only begun. A new birth is not a new life, 
but only the beginning of it." — H. IV. Bceclier. 

Closet Promise. — Christ is all, and in all. — Col. iii. ii. 



We feel we are nothing, — for all is Thou and in 

Thee; 
"We feel we are something, — that also has come 

from Thee ; 



We know we are nothing, — ^but Thou wilt help 
us to be. 

— Alfred Tennyson. 



And now we ask, Has Jesus been outgrown ? In these eighteen centuries 
has he been left behind, in any one particular, by the advancing race of 
man ? Is He not still our leader, chief, and friend — the best friend we have — 
our brother, teacher, and master ? Without Him and His religion, what satis- 
faction is there in life, what hope in death, what comfort in sorrow, what 
strength in our weakness, what light in our darkness ? — y nines Freeman 
Clarke. 

TUESDAY. 



The Cup of Death. — Prov. 



29-35- 



29 Who hath woe ? who hath sorrow ? who 
hath contentions ? who hath babbling ? who 
hath wounds without cause ? who hath redness 
of eyes ? 

30 The)' that tarry long at the wine : they 
that go to seek mixed wine. 

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is 
red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when 
it moveth itself aright. 

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and 
stingeth like an adder. 



33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, 
and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 

34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in 
the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the 
top of a mast. 

35 They have stricken me, shalt thoti say, and 
I was not sick ; they have beaten me, atid I felt 
it not : when shall I awake ? I will seek it yet 
again. 



The Bible tells us, " If any man defile the temple of God, him will God 
destroy." And how fearfully he defiles this living temple who surrenders 
himself to the appetite for alcohol ! His body becomes a habitation fit only 
for the most unclean spirits, the most horrible imaginings take possession 
of his brain, his heart is seized upon by the fiercest passions and the foulest 
lusts, and his soul is bound with fetters and thrown into the deepest dungeon 
of despair. How truly in his case does it appear, that he who defiles the 
temple of God, him will God destroy ! 

" The cup kills more than the cannon : it causes dropsies, catarrhs, apo- 



516 



FORTIETH WEEK. 



plexies ; it fills the eye with fire, and the legs with water, and turns the body 
into a hospital." — T. Watson. 

And yet, how often the beginnings of intemperance are to be found in 
those drinking usages, which derive their force and authority, in the first 
instance, wholly from those who give law to fashion. " Tell me," said a 
gentleman to a poor drunkard, when urging him to give up the intoxicating 
cup, " where it was you took your first steps in this intemperate course ? " 
''At my father's table" replied the unhappy young man. " Before I left 
home to become a clerk, I had learned to love the drink that has ruined 
me. The first drop I ever tasted was handed me by my now heart-broken 
mother." What an awful testimony for parents to face ! 



Closet Promise.— The Lord preserveth all them that love Him.- 
cxlv. 20. 



-Psalr 



Leave all to God, 
Forsaken one, and stay thy tears ; 
For the Highest knows thy pain, 
Sees thy sufferings, and thy fears ; 
Thou shalt not wait His help in vain. 
Leave all to God. 

Be still and trust, 

For His strokes are strokes of love, 
Thou must for thy profit bear ; 
He thy filial fear would move, 
Trust thy Father's loving care. 
Be still and trust. 

Know God is near. 
Though thou think Him far away, 
Though His mercy long have slept. 
He will" come, and not delay, 



When His child enough hath wept. 
For God is near. 

Oh, teach him not, 

When and how to hear Thy prayers ; 

Never doth our God forget, 

He the cross who longest bears, 

Finds his sorrows' bounds are set ; 

Then teach him not. 

If thou love Him, 
Walking truly in His ways. 
Then no trouble, cross, or death. 
E'er shall silence faith and praise ! 
All things serve thee here beneath 
If thou love God. 

— Anton Ulrich, 1667. 



WEDNESDAY. 



The Heavenly City.- 

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : 
for the first heaven and the first earth were 
passed away; and there was no more sea. 

2 And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusa- 
lem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven 
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with 
men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
shall be "his people, and God himself shall be 
with them, and be their God. 

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from 
their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be 



— Kev. XXI. ; xxii. 1-5. 

any more pain : for the former things are passed 
away. 

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Be- 
hold, I make all things new. And he said 
unto me. Write : for these words are true and 
faithful. 

6 And he said unto me. It is done. I am 
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. 
I will give unto him that is athirst of the foun- 
tain of the water of life freely. 

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; 
and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the 
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers. 




CHRIST CROWNED WITH THORNS. 

And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on His head, and thejr 

put on Him a purple robe. — John xix. 2. 



WEDNESDAY. 



619 



and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shnll 
have their part in the lake which burnfili with 
tire and brimstone: which is the second death. 

9 And there came unto me one of the seven 
angels which had the seven vials full of the 
seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying. 
Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the 
Lamb's wife. 

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to 
a great and high mountain, and shewed me that 
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out 
of heaven from God, 

n Having the glory of God : and her light 
7iias like untn a stone most precious, even like a 
jasper st'inc, cl^jar as crystal ; 

12 Ami had a wall great and high, anJ had 
twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, 
and names written thereon, which are (/le 
flames of the twelve tribes of the children of 
Israel : 

13 On the east three gates ; on the north three 
gates ; on the south three gates ; and on the west 
three gates. 

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foun- 
dations, and in them the names of the twelve 
apostles of the Lamb. 

15 And he that talked with me had a golden 
reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, 
and the wall thereof. 

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the 
length is as large as the breadth : and he meas- 
ured the city with the reed, twelve thousand fur- 
longs. The length and the breadth and the 
height of it are equal. 

17 And he measured the wall thereof, a hun- 
dred ani/ forty am/ four cubits, according to the 
measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 

18 And the building of the wall of it was of 
jasper : and the city zuas pure gold, like unto 
clear glass. 

19 And the foundations of the wall of the 
city were garnished with all manner of precious 
stones. The first foundation was jasper ; the 
second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony ; the 
fourth, an emerald; 

20 The fifth, sardony.x ; the sixth, sardius ; 



the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl ; the 
ninth, a topaz ; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the 
eleventii, a jacinth ; the twelfth, an amethyst. 

21 And the twelve gates wtjre twelve pearls; 
every several gate was of one pearl : and the 
street of the city was pure gold, as it were trans- 
parent glass. 

22 And I saw no temple therein : for the Lord 
God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple 
of it. 

23 And the city had no need of the sun, 
neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory 
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 
thereof. 

24 And the nations of them which are saved 
shall walk in the light of it : and the kings of 
the earth do bring their glory and honour into 
it. 

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all 
by day : for there shall be no night there. 

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour 
of the nadons into it. 

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it 
any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever 
worketh abomination, or maketh a lie : but they 
which are written in the Lamb's book of life. 



1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of 
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne 
of God and of the Lamb. 

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on 
either side of the river, rvas there the tree of life,-, 
which bare twelve 7na>iner of [xvXX.'s,, a«a' yielded 
her fruit every month : and the leaves of the 
tree 7uere for the healing of the nations. 

3 And there shall be no more curse : but the 
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; 
and his servants shall serve him : 

4 And they shall see his face ; and his name 
shall be in iheir foreheads. 

5 And there shall be no night there ; and they 
need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the 
Lord God giveth them light : and they shall 
reign for ever and ever. 



The last two chapters of Revelation are the best of all. Reading them, 
how many have been comforted, and how many have been homesick for the 
rest, the peace, the joy, and the communion of that holy city! 

" No night ! " — no chill, no gropings, no stumblings in the dark, no weari- 
ness, no restless tossings, no watchings, no longings for the morning ! There 
ever is light, healing, refreshing, stimulating, invigorating. 

" It is winter here, and we are frostbitten or ice-clad. It will be summer 

there, and we shall be in fragrant leaf and glorious blossom." " To us here 

the glory of God shines as the sun shines in a cloudy day. Now it is hidden 

altogether ; now a procession of clouds pass over it, and there comes through 

29 



520 



FORTIETH WEEK. 



them a fitful, checkered h'ght ; and now it is disclosed to full view. But 
there is a place where the glory of God shall be an uninterrupted 
stream, which shall be so clear, so apparent, that we shall live in the presence 

of it We shall see Him as He is, the God of glory, and our eye 

will be so strengthened that we can behold Him and not die." — H. W. 
Beeclur. 

Closet Promise. — They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; 
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. — Rev. vii. l6. 



Oh, where the living waters flow, 

Along that radiant shore, 
My soul, a wanderer here, shall know 

The exile thirst no more. 



And, borne on eagle's wings afar. 
Free thought shall claim its dower, 

From every realm, from every star, 
Of glory and of power. 

— Mrs. F. D. Hemans. 



THURSDAY. 

Enduring Mercy. — Psalm cxxxvi. 



1 Oh give thanks unto the Lord ; for he is 
good : for his mercy enduieth for ever. 

2 Oh give thanks unto the God of gods: for 
his mercy endureih for ever. 

3 Oh give thanks to the Lord of lords : for 
his mercy endureih for ever. 

4 To him who alone doeth great wonders : 
for his mercy endureih for ever. 

5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens : 
for his mercy endureih for ever. 

6 To him that stretched out the earth above 
the waters : for his mercy endureih for ever. 

7 To him that made great lights: for his 
mercy endureih for ever : 

8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy en- 
dureih for ever : 

9 The moon and stars to rule by night : for 
his mercy endureih for ever. 

10 To him that smote Egypt in their first- 
born : for his mercy endureih for ever : 

1 1 And brouglit out Israel from among them : 
for his mercy endureih for ever : 

12 With a strong hand, and with a stretched 
out arm : for liis mercy endureih for ever. 

13 To him which divided the Red sea into 
parts : for his mercy endureih for ever : 



14 And made Israel to pass through the 
midst of it : for his mercy endureih for ever: 

15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the 
Red sea : for his mercy endureih for ever. 

16 To him which led his people through the 
wilderness : for his mercy endureih for ever. 

17 To him which smote great kings : for his 
mercy endureih for ever : 

18 And slew famous kings : for his mercy 
endureih for ever : 

19 Sihon king of the Amorites; for his 
mercy endureih for ever : 

20 And Og the king of Bashan : for his 
mercy endureih for ever : 

21 And gave their land for a heritage: for 
his mercy endureih for ever : 

22 £ven a heritage unto Israel his servant : 
for his mercy endureih for ever. 

23 Who remembered us in our low estate : 
for his mercy endureih for ever ; 

24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies : 
for his mercy endureih for ever. 

25 Who giveth food to all flesh : for his 
mercy endureih for ever. 

26 Oh give thanks unto the God of heaven : 
for his mercy endureih for ever. 



This Psalm " contains nothing but praise. It is turned to rapture, and 
can only be fully enjoyed by a devoutly grateful heart." 

The grand peculiarity of the Psalm is the regular recurrence, at the close 
of every verse, of the refrain, "For his mercy endtirethfor ever!' 

" This sentence is the wonder of Moses, the sum of revelation, and the 
hope of man." — James G. Murphy. 



THURSDAY. 521 

" It is the sweetest stanza that a man can sing. What joj' that there is 
mercy, mercy with Jehovah, enduring mercy, mercy enduring for ever. We 
are ever needing it, trying it, praying for it, receiving it : therefore let us for 
ever sing of it." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" Many sweet things are in the word of God, but the name of mercy is 
the sweetest word in all the Scriptures, which made David harp upon it 
twenty-six times in this psalm : 'For his mercy endureth for ever! It was 
such a cheerful note in his ears when he struck upon mercy, that, like a 
bird that is taught to pipe, when he had sung it, he sang it again, and when 
he had sung it again, he recorded it again, and made it the burden of his 
song: 'For his mej'cy enditreth for ever! Like a nightingale which, when 
she is in a pleasant ein, quavers and capers, and trebles upon it, so did 
David upon his mercy : 'For his mercy endureth for ever! " — Henry Smith. 

"Who giveth food to allfesh" (verse 25). The Psalmist opens this psalm 
thus : " O give thanks unto the Lord." Then follows a rehearsal of His 
wondrous deeds. The catalogue is immense. Here he says, " Who giveth 
food unto all flesh " — He is our great Feeder. Birds, beasts, and the fishes 
of the sea, receive their food from His gracious hand. And man also is 
thus favored. Morning, noon and night he is the recipient of God's bounty. 
It is no small matter to be fed — regularly, constantly. Be joyful in the 
Lord, ye saints. 

" Peace, troubled heart, thou need'st not fear; 
Thy great Provider still is near." 

Closet Promise. — His mercy endureth for ever. Psalm cvi. I. 

Not a few in their last hours find themselves tried because the future is so 
uncertain, because their life has been so imperfect, or because their attain- 
ments have been so small. When they think what God is in His purity and 
majesty, they tremble, and dare not die. Why, then, do they not think 
what God is in His mercy ? He st^inds in the plentitude of all — comforting 
grace — grace not to be given to those that have, but grace to be given as 
raiment is given to those that are naked, as medicine is given to those that 
are sick, as food is given to those that are hungry, as charity is bestowed on 
those that are needy. God supplies, not the supplied, but the unsupplied ; 
he strengthens, not the strong, but the weak; he comforts, not the rejoicing, 
but the sorrowing. — H. IV. Beecher. 



522 



FORTIETH WEEK. 



FRIDAY. 

An Exhortation to " Hold Fast. 



-Heb. 



>c. 19-39. 



19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to 
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 

20 By a new and living way, which he hath 
consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to 
iuy, his flesh ; 

21 And having a high priest over the house 
of God ; 

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full 
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled 
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed 
with pure water. 

23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith 
without wavering ; for he is faithful that 
promised ; 

24 And let us consider one another to pro- 
voke unto love and to good works ; 

25 Not forsaking the assembling of our- 
selves together, as the manner of some is ; but 
exhorting 07ie another : and so much the more, 
as ye see the day approaching. 

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have 
received the knowledge of the truth, there 
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 

27 But a certain fearful looking for of judg- 
ment and fiery indignation, which shall devour 
the adversaries. 

28 He that despised Moses' law died without 
mercy under two or three witnesses : 

29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose 
ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trod- 
den under foot the Son of God, and hath 
counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith 



he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath 
done despite unto the Spirit of grace ? 

30 For we know him that hath said. Venge- 
ance bclongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith 
the Lord. And again. The Lord shall judge 
his people. 

31 // is a fearful thing to fall into the hands 
of the living God. 

32 But call to remembrance the former days, 
in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured 
a great fight of afflictions ; 

33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazing-stock 
both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, 
whilst ye became companions of them that were 
so used. 

34 For ye had compassion of me in my 
bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your 
goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in 
heaven a better and an enduring substance. 

35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, 
which hath great recompense of reward. 

36 For ye have need of patience, that, after 
ye have done the will of God, ye might re- 
ceive the promise. 

37 For yet a little while, and he that shall 
come will come, and will not tarry. 

38 Now the just shall live by faith : but if 
atty man draw back, my soul shall have no 
pleasure in him. 

39 But we are not of them who draw back 
unto perdition ; but of them that believe to the 
saving of the soul. 



" The Christian's safety h'es in resisting. All the armor here provided is 
to defend the Christian fighting, none to secure him flying. Stand, and the 
day is 07irs ; fly or yield, and all is lost. Great captains, to make their 
soldiers more resolute, do sometimes cut off all hope of a safe retreat to 
them that run away. Thus the Norman Conqueror, as soon as his men 
were set on English shore, sent away his ships in their sight, that they 
might resolve to fight or die. God takes away all thought of safety to the 
coward. Not a piece to be found for the back in all God's armory. 
Stand, and the bullets light all on your armor ; fly, and they enter into your 
hearts. 'Tis a terrible place (Heb. x. 38) : ' The just shall live by faith, but 
if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.' " — Gnrnall. 

Oh, do not cast away your confidence. You are not a saint, very likely; 
but you may be a Christian, nevertheless. Do not be discouraged because 
you are not perfect. It does not follow that you are not going on to know 
the Lord. 



FRIDAY. 523 

Closet Promise. — He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be 
saved. — Matt. xxiv. 13. 



Hold on, my heart, in thy believing ! 

The steadfast only wear the crown ; 
He, who when stormy waves are heaving 

Parts with his anchor, shall go down; 
But he whom Jesus holds through all 
Shall stand though earth and heavens should 
fall. 

Hold thy murmurs, heaven arraigning. 

The patient see God's loving face ; 
Who bear their burdens uncomplaining. 



'Tis they who win the Father's grace. 
He wounds himself who braves the rod, 
And sets himself to fight with God. 

Hold out ! there comes an end to sorrow ; 

Hope, from the dust, shall conquering rise ; 
The storm proclaims a sunnier morrow ; 

The cross points on to Paradise. 
The Father reigneth ; cease all doubt ; 
Hold on, my heart, hold on, hold out ! " 



SATURDAY. 

Jonathan and his Armorbearer. — i Sam. 



-23- 



1 Now it came to pass upon a day, that 
Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young 
man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go 
over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the 
other side. But he told not his father. 

2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of 
Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in 
Migron : and the people that Wi:re with him 
7vere about six hundred men ; 

3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, I-chabod's 
brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the 
Lord's priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. 
And the people knew not that Jonathan was 
gone. 

4 ^ And between the passages, by which 
Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' 
garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, 
and a sharp rock on the other side : and the 
name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the 
other Seneh. 

5 The forefront of the one was situate north- 
ward over against Michmash, and the other 
southward over against Gibeah. 

6 And Jonathan said to the young man that 
bare his armour. Come, and let us go over unto 
the garrison of these uncircumcised : it may be 
that the Lord will work for us : for the7-e is no 
restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. 

7 And his armourbearer said unto him. Do 
all that is in thy heart : turn thee ; behold, I am 
with thee according to thy heart. 

8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass 
over unto these men, and we will discover our- 
selves unto them. 

9 If they say thus unto us. Tarry until we 
come to you ; then we will stand still in our 
place, and will not go up unto them. 

ID But if they say thus, Come up unto us; 
then we will go up : for the Lord halh deliv- 
ered ihem into our hand; and this shall be a sign 
unto us. 



11 And both of them discovered themselves 
unto the garrison of the Philistines : and the 
Philistines said. Behold, the Hebrews come 
forih out of the holes where they had hid them- 
selves. 

12 And the men of the garrison answered 
Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said. Come 
up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And 
Jonathan said unto his armourbearer. Come up 
after me : for the Lord hath delivered them 
into the hand of Israel. 

13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands 
and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after 
him : and they fell before Jonathan ; and his 
armourbearer slew after him. 

14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan 
and his armourbearer made, was about twenty 
men, within as it were a half acre of land, which 
a yoke of oxen might plough. 

15 And there was trembling in the host, in 
the field, and among all the people : the gar- 
rison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and 
the earth quaked : so it was a very great 
trembling. 

16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of 
Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude 
melted away, and they went on beating down 
one another. 

17 Then said Saul unto the people that were 
with him. Number now, and see who is gone 
from us. And when they had numbered, be- 
hold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not 
there. 

18 And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither 
the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that 
time with the children of Israel. 

19 ^ And it came to pass, while Saul talked 
unto the priest, that the noise that was in the 
host of the Philistines went on and increased : 
and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine 
hand. 



524 FORTIETH WEEK, 



20 And Saul and all the people that were 
with him assembled themselves, and they came 
to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword 
was against his fellow, and there was a very 
great discomfiture. 

21 Moreover, the Hebrews that were vi'ith the 
Philistines before that time, which went up with 
them into the camp from the country round 



about, even they also turned to be with the 
Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. 

22 Likewise all the men of Israel which had 
hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they 
heard that the Philistines fled, even they also 
followed hard after them in the battle. 

23 So the Lord saved Israel that day : and 
the battle passed over unto Beth-aven. 



These were evil days for the people of Israel. But it was in these dark 
days that Jonathan shone so famous. It is yet true that difficulties prove 
our mettle, and that the greater the hardship or peril, the more is the victor)'- 
worth telling-. 

The very presence of the enemy should rouse the courage of God's peo- 
ple. Jonathan could not allow the Philistines to be even at Michmash, 
strong as it was, without ever striking a blow. Is there not need for more 
chivalry among the soldiers of Christ ? 

We are not told the name of the young man who was Jonathan's armor- 
bearer, but he was worthy of the situation. The best of leaders is all the 
better for the knowledge that his followers will not fail him. Let those of 
us whose place is not to lead j^et help our Commander by acting, so that 
whenever He looks at us He will see our faces say, " I am with Thee 
according to Thine heart." 

" Jonathan knew that God can win by a minority. If, in fighting the 
Lord's battles, we wait till we can outnumber the foe, we shall never do 
exploits. Joshua and Caleb were outvoted, but they said, ' Let us go up 
and possess it.' The fewer there are, the more room for Omnipotence. 
The units of Christian workers are the thin edge of the wedge." — T. 
Champness. 

Closet Promise. — I will strengthen them in the Lord ; and they shall 
walk up and down in His name, saith the Lord. — Zech. x. 12. 

" Leaning on Him, make with reverent meek- I And with strength from Him shall thy utter 
ness weakness 

His own thy will, | Life's task fulfil." 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto.— The Lord Js good to all. — Psalm cxlv. 9. 
Weekly Proverb.— More are drowned in the wine-cup than in the 
ocean. — German. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— MIRACLES OF THE APOSTLES. 

Sunday. — Lame Man Healed. — Acts iii. 1-26. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



h25 



Monday. — ^neas Healed, and Dorcas Restored to Life. — Acts ix. 32-43. 

Tuesday. — Cripple Healed. — Acts xiv. 8-18. 

Wednesday. — Evil Spirit Cast Out. — Acts xvi. 16-40. 

Thursday. — Handkerchiefs or Aprons. — Acts xix. 1-20. 

Friday. — Eutychus Restored to Life. — Acts xx. 1-12. 

Saturday. — The Father of Publius Healed — Acts xxviii. i-io. 

LITTLE KENNETH'S TEXT. 



Our Kenneth went to Sunday-school 
One pleasant day. He was but three, 

But in his brand-new hat and coat 
He felt just like a man, you see. 

His little text he learned so well, 
That grandma heard it with delight ; 

Kissing his rosy cheeks, she said, 

" Now, you'll be sure to say it right." 



Among the troops of little ones, 

That round the teacher's smiling face 

Were filling every vacant chair, 
He quite demurely found a place. 

And now, what do you think he said. 
When asked if he his lesson knew ? 

" Honor my papa and mamma. 

And honor my nice grandma, too." 

— Mario7i Ryburne. 



My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. — Prov. i. 10. 

I am going to talk to-day about the power to say "No." " How is it you 
never go with any bad boy, or get into bad scrapes ? " asked one little fellow 
of his playmate. " Oh," said the other, " that's 'cause I don't say ' No ' 
easy / " He meant when he said No, he said it n£-/il out ; not as if he was 
afraid, but as if he meant it. That boy had the power to say " No." One 
day three little boys were playing horse in the street. With a dash and a 
flourish they came prancing around the corner just by a grocer's wagon 
that was waiting there while the driver had gone into the house. Quick as 
thought, one little fellow climbed up and picked off a red apple which he 
began to put into his pocket. " Hold on ! " said one of the other boys ; 
" put that back." " Why ? " " Because it does not belong to you." " But 
I am going to keep it anyway ! " was the reply. " Well, then, you shall 
not be in our play," was the brave response ; and, forthwith, he began taking 
off " the bridle." This bold way produced the desired effect. The little 
offender tossed the apple back, and off they all scampered as though nothing 
had happened. That was standing up for the right, and saying No bravely. 
" If sinners entice thee, consent thou not." 



FORTY-FIRST V\^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord : and He delighteth in 
liis way. — Psalm xxxvii. 23. 



All will be well — no need of care, 
Though how it will, or when, or where, 
We do not know, and can't declare. 
In spite of fear, in spite of thought. 



'Tis not in vain, nor all for naught. 
The wind it blows, the ship it goes, 
Though where or whither no one knows. 

—Selected. 



It is not for us, who are passengers, to meddle with the chart and with the 
compass. Let that all-skilful Pilot alone with His own work. — Hall. 



And so beside the silent sea 

I wait the muffled oar ; 
No hafm from Him can come to me 

On ocean or on shore. 



I know not where His islands lift 

Their fronded palms in air; 
I only know I cannot drift 

Beyond His love and care. 

— Whittier. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Faith Chapter. — Heb. xi. 1-22. 



1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped 
for, the evidence of things not seen. 

2 For by it the elders obtained a good re- 
port. 

3 Through faith we understand that the 
worlds were framed by the word of God, so 
that things which are seen were not made of 
things which do appear. 

4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more ex- 
cellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained 
witness that he was righteous, God testifying 
of his gifts : and by it he being dead yet 
speaketh. 

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he 
should not see death ; and was not found, be- 
cause God had translated him : for before his 
translation he had this testimony, that he pleased 
God. 

6 But without faith // is impossible to please 
him : for he that Cometh to God must believe 
that he is, and tAui he is a re warder of them 
that diligently seek him. 

7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of 
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, pre- 
pared an ark to the saving of his house; by the 
which he condemned the world, and became 
heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to 
go out into a place which he should after receive 

(526) 



for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he went out, 
not knowing whither he went. 

9 By faith he sojourned in the land of prom- 
ise, as in a strange country, dwelling in taber- 
nacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him 
of the same promise : 

10 For he looked for a city which hath 
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 

1 1 Through faith also Sarah herself received 
strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of 
a child when she was past age, because she 
judged him faithful who had promised. 

12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and 
him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the 
sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by 
the sea shore innumerable. 

13 These all died in faith, not having re- 
ceived the promises, but having seen them afar 
off, and were persuaded oi them, and embraced 
them, and confessed that they were strangers 
and pilgrims on the earth. 

14 For they that say such things declare 
plainly that they seek a country. 

15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that 
country from whence they came out, they might 
have had opportunity to have returned. 

16 But now they desire a better country, that 
is, a heavenly : wherefore God is not ashamed 



SUNDAY. 



627 



to be called their God : for he hath prepared for 
them a city. 

17 By faith Abrahim, when he was tried, 
offered up Isaac : and he that had received the 
promises offered up his only begotten son, 

18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall 
thy seed be called : 

19 Accounting that God was able to raise 
Mt>i up, even from the dead ; from whence also 
he received him in a figure. 



20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau 
concerning things to come. 

21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, 
blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, 
leaning upon the top of his staff. 

22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made 
mention of the departing of the children of 
Israel ; and gave commandment concerning his 
bones. 



What a sublime thing is faith ! The sight of the unseen ; the reality of 
the unreal ; the substance of the unsubstantial ; the invisible pitted against 
the visible— this it is that enables men to endure with patience whatever 
trials they may be called to pass through in this world. 

The grandest triumph of faith is just the acknowledgment of a mystery. 
Where reason bows, where the senses are palled, and where the man trem- 
bles and shivers as he enters into the cloud, — there faith comes in. Real 
faith carries a man above and over many of the perplexing questions with 
which our lives are troubled, as the eagle flying through the sky is not wor- 
ried how to cross the rivers. 

" The life of a Christian is described as walking by faith, and to my mind 
walking by faith is the most extraordinary miracle ever beheld beneath the 
sun. Walking on the waves, as Peter did, is a type of the life of every 
Christian. I have sometimes likened it to ascending an invisible staircase 
far up into the clouds. You cannot see a step before you, but you wind up 
towards the light. When you look downward all is dark, and before you 
lies nothing visible but cloud, while beneath you yawns a fathomless abyss. 
Yet we have climbed, some of us, now for years up this perpetually ascend- 
ing stair, never seeing an inch before us. We have often paused almost in 
horror, and asked in wonder, 'What next, and what next?' Yet what we 
thought was cloud has proved to be solid rock ; darkness has been light be- 
fore us, and slippery places have been safe." — C. H. Sp2U'geo?i. 

Closet Promise. — I will cry unto God most high ; unto God that per- 
fornieth all things for me. — Psalm Ivii. 2. 



The beautiful old translation says. He " shall perform the cause which I 
have in hand." Does not that make it very real to us to-day ? Just the 
very thing that " I have in hand," mj"- own particular bit of work to-day, — 
this cause that I cannot manage, this thing that I undertook in miscalcula- 
tion of my own powers, this is what I may ask Him to do " for me," and 
rest assured that He will perform it. " The wise and their works are in the 
hands of God." 



528 



FORTY-FIRST WEEK. 



MONDAY. 

The Faith Chapter. — Heb. xi. 23- 



23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was 
hid three months of his parents, because they 
saw he was a proper child ; and they were not 
afraid of the king's commandment. 

24 By faith Moses, when he was come to 
years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter; 

25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with 
the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures 
of sin for a season ; 

26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater 
riches than the treasures in Egypt : for he had 
respect unto the recompense of the reward. 

27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the 
wrath of the king : for he endured, as seeing 
him who is invisible. 

28 Through faith he kept the passover, and 
the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed 
the firstborn should touch them. 

29 By faith they passed through the Red sea 
as hy A\y /and : which the Egyptians assaying 
to do were drowned. 

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, 
after they were compassed about seven days. 

31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not 
with them that believed not, when she had re- 
ceived the spies with peace. 

32 And what shall I more say ? for the lime 
would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, 



and o/Samson,and o/Jephthah ; <?/" David also, 
and Samuel, and of the prophets ; 

33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, 
wrought righteousness, obtained promises, 
stopped the mouths of lions, 

34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the 
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made 
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight 
the armies of the aliens. 

35 Women received their dead raised to life 
again; and others were tortured, not accepting 
deliverance ; that they might obtain a better 

I resurrection : 

36 And others had trial of cruel mockings 
and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and im- 
prisonment : 

37 They were stoned, they were sawn asun- 
der, were tempted, were slain with the sword : 
they wandered about in sheepskins and goat- 
skins ; being destitute, afflicted, tormented ; 

38 Of whom the world was not worthy: they 
wandered in deserts, and m mountains, and in 
dens and caves of the earth. 

39 And these all, having obtained a good re- 
port through faith, received not the promise: 

40 God having provided some better thing 
for us, that they without us should not be made 
perfect. 



" God Himself is content to divide His praises with faith : whereas she can 
do nothing but by Him, she shall do anything with Him. She can work 
wonders : subduing kingdoms, strangling lions, quenching violent fires, witli 
handfuls conquering huge armies, dividing seas, turning back streams, yea, 
commanding mountains to remove, overcoming the world ; what call you 
these but wonders ? Such wonders can faith do. Yea, God is pleased to 
do nothing for us without her, that doth all things for Himself. True faith 
is not less than miraculous in the sphere of her activity, and with the war- 
rant of God's truth. It is no offence to God's crown and dignity, to sa)% it 
is His own arm to the saving of men. There is a kind of omnipotence in 
faith, when it shall say to the sun and moon, Stand still, and be obeyed. 
But as Christ could do no miracle in Capernaum, because they had no faith ; 
so where men want faith, it must be a miracle, yea, beyond a miracle, if they 
be saved. I know it is easy to say, I believe : there is a titular faith, but it 
shall never save any, until saying, Be filled, gives a man his dinner; or, Be 
warmed, makes him hot. But he that can believe, with Noah, in a storm of 
indignation, in a deluge of destruction, when the arrows of vengeance fly 



MONDAY. 



529 



about, and the Lord raineth coals of fire like hailstones, in flaming trials, 
and strongest temptations ; then to believe, shall bring a glorious crown in 
the day of Jesus Christ." — Adams. 

Closet Promise. — Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, 
which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much 
more clothe you, O ye of little faith ? — Matt. vi. 30. 



' The child leans on its parent's breast, 
Leaves there its cares, and is at rest ; 
The bird sits singing by its nest, 

And tells aloud 
His trust in God, and so is bless'd • 

'Neath every cloud. 



The heart that trusts forever sings, 
And feels as light as it had wings; 
A well of peace within it springs, 

Come good or ill : 
Whate'er to-day, to-morrow, brings, 

It is His will." 



TUESDAY. 

The Heavenly Keeper. — Psalm cxxi. 



1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from 
whence cometh my help. 

2 My help cometh from the Lord, which 
made heaven and earth. 

3 He will not suffer thy foot to be mo ved : 
he that keepelh thee will not slumber. 

4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither 
slumber nor sleep. 



5 The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy 
shade upon thy right hand. 

6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor 
the moon by night. 

7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all 
evil : he shall preserve thy soul. 

8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out 
and thy coming in from this time forth, and 
even for evermore. 



The Helper and " Keeper of Israel " is the Almighty Creator of heaven 
and earth ; and " if He be for us, who can be against us ? " We .should then 
inquire whether we belong to this holy nation, this peculiar people; which 
being ascertained, we may dismiss our anxious cares and fears ; or only be 
careful to use the appointed means, and be found employed in our proper 
work. 

"The Lord will 'uphold our goings in His waj', that our footsteps slip 
not.' He ' neither slumbereth nor sleepeth ; ' He will keep His people 
night and day, in dangers, snares, temptations, and persecutions ; from open 
and secret enemies ; He will preserve them from all real evil, and make all 
seeming evil work together for their good : He will protect their lives, during 
the appointed period, and order all the circumstances of their departure: 
He will preserve their souls, and take care of them in going out and coming 
in ; when present with their bodies, and when separated, and when again 
united to them, from this time forth for evermore. ' Happy are the people 
that are in such a case ; yea, blessed are the people who have the Lord for 
their God.' " — Thomas Scott, 



530 



FORTY-FIRST WEEK. 



Closet Promise. — The Lord is thy Keeper : the Lord is thy shade upon 
thy right hand. — Psalm cxxi. 5. 



' His love doth follow my steps, but I 
Am a poor sinner and no more ! 
The Lord my Shepherd He is the same, 
He doth not measure His love by mine. 



True and unchangeable is His Name, 
His love and pity are all Divine ! 
He doth remember though I forget, 
And therefore I think He'll keep me yet.' 



WEDNESDAY. 

Solomon's Choice. — i Kings iii. 5-] 



5 ^ In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon 
in a dream by night : and God said, Ask what 
I shall give thee. 

6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed un- 
to thy servant David my father great mercy, 
according as he walked before thee in truth, 
and in righteousness, and in uprightness of 
heart with thee ; and thou hast kept for him 
this great kindness, that thou hast given him 
a son to sit on his throne, as // is this day. 

7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast 
made thy servant king instead of David my 
father : and I am but a little child : I know not 
how to go out or come in. 

8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people 
which thou hast chosen, a great people, that 
cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 

9 Give therefore thy servant an understand- 
ing heart to judge thy people, that I may dis- 
cern between good and bad : for who is able to 
judge this thy so great a people ? 

ID And the speech pleased the Lord, that 
Solomon had asked this thing. 

II And God said unto him, Because thou 



hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for 
thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for 
thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies ; 
but hast asked for thyself understanding to dis- 
cern judgment; 

12 Behold, I have done according to thy 
word : lo, I have given thee a wise and an 
understanding heart; so that theie was none 
like thee before thee, neither after thee shall 
any arise like unto thee. 

13 And I have also given thee that which 
thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: 
so that there shall not be any among the kings 
like unto thee all thy days. 

14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to 
keep my statutes and my commandments, as 
ihy father David did walk, then I will lengthen 
thy days. 

15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, itwas 
a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and 
stood before the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and 
offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all 
his servants. 



God comes to every one of us saying, "Ask what I shall give thee." 
Goethe said he admired the man who knew precisely what he aimed at in 
life. God wishes you at the commencement of your career to come up to 
the height of a great choice. 

Not wealth, not pleasure, not fame, not victory, not length of days, but 
an understanding heart, was the choice of Solomon's boyhood. The pra\'cr 
for wisdom is always pleasing to God. As He is wont, God gave Solomon 
more than he asked. There is a difference between the favor that was 
sought and the boon which was granted. " The heart " is the affections ; 
" the understanding " is the intelh'gent knowledge of any subject ; " wisdom " 
is the sensible and right use both of the knowledge and the affections. 

" Wisdom is tlie only thing of which God has said that He gives it 
liberally and never upbraids. No man need be afraid to ask for wisdom, 
however often or however much. Solomon's wisdom went higher than all 
natural history, higher than political economy, higher than moral science. 



WEDNESDAY. 



531 



It went up to essential truth, to the Truth of truths, to Christ Himself. 
Read the eighth chapter of Proverbs, and you will see, beyond a cavil, what 
and who was ' the Wisdom ' that God gave to Solomon. All this was the 
result of one good choice, and the answer to one simple, humble prayer in 
early life." — y. Vmighan. 

There is a very solemn lesson in the fact that Solomon afterwards abused 
that vast gift — that that very heart went wrong. No one prayer can secure 
continuance ; one period of life is no guarantee for another period of life ; 
the intellect may be darkened, and the heart may go wrong, and the wisest 
man become the worst. 



Closet Promise. — My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is 
strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. — Psalm Ixxiii. 26. 



the 



When on my day of life the night is falling, 
And in the winds from unsunned spaces 
blown, 

I hear far voices out of darkness calling 
My feet to paths unknown ; 

Thou who hast made my home of life so 
pleasant, 
Leave not its tenant when its walls decay ; 

Love divine, O Helper ever present, 
Be thou my strength and stay ! 

Be near me when all else is from me drifting — 
Earth, sky, home's picture, days of shade 
and shine, 

And kindly faces to my own uplifting 
The love which answers mine. 

1 have but Thee, O Father ! Let Thy Spirit 

Be with me then to comfort and uphold ; 



No gate of pearl, no branch of palm I merit. 
Nor street of shining gold. 

Suffice it if, my good and ill unreckoned. 

And both forgiv'n through Thy abounding 
grace, 

I find myself by hands familiar beckoned 
Unto my fitting place. 

Some humble door among Thy many mansions. 
Some sheltering shade where sin and striving 
cease. 
And flows forever through heaven's green 
expansions 
The river of Thy peace. 

There from the music round about me stealing 
I fain would learn the new and holy song, 

And find at last, beneath Thy trees of healing. 
The life for which I long. 

— John Greenleaf Whittier. 



THURSDAY. 

Simon the Sorcerer. — Acts viii. 5-25. 



5 Then Philip went down to the city of Sa- 
maria, and preached Christ unto them. 

6 And the people with line accord gave heed 
unto those things which Philip sp^ke, hearing 
and seeing the miracles which he did. 

7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, 
came out of many that were possessed with 
them : and many taken with palsies, and that 
were lame, were healed. 

8 And there was great joy in that city. 

9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, 
which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, 
and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving 
out that himself was some great one : 



10 To whom they all gave heed, from the 
least to the greatest, saying. This man is the 
great power of God. 

11 And to him they had regard, because that 
of long time he had bewitched them with sor- 
ceries. 

12 But when they believed Philip preaching 
the things concerning the kingdom of God, and 
the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, 
both men and women. 

13 Then Simon himself believed also: and 
when he was baptized, he continued with 
Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles 
and signs which were done. 



532 



FORTY-FIRST WEEK. 



14 Now when the apostles which were at 
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the 
word of God, they sent unto them Peter and 
John : 

15 Who, when they were come down, prayed 
for them, iliat they might receive the Holy 
Ghost : 

16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of 
them : only they were baptized in the name of 
I he Lord Jesus.) 

17 Then laid they //;«> hands on them, and 
they received the Holy Ghost. 

18 And when Simon saw that through laying 
on of the apnstles' hands the Holy Ghost was 
given, he ofieied them money, 

19 Saying. Give'me also this power, that on 
whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the 
Holy Ghost. 



; 20 Bui Peter said unto him, Thy money per- 
ish with thee, because thou hast thought that the 
gift of God may be purchased with money. 

21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this 
I matter : for thy heart is not right in the sight of 

God. 

22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, 
and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine 
heart may be forgiven thee. 

23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of 
bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. 

24 Then answered Simon, and said. Pray ye 
to the Lord for me, that none of these things 
which ye have spoken come upon me. 

25 And they, when they had, testified and 
preached the word of the Lord, returned to 
Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many 
villages of the Samaritans. 



Under the preaching of Philip, who was one of the seven deacons (chap. 
vi.), Simon made a profession of Christianitj^ was baptized, and became a 
constant attendant on the ministry of Philip. But Simon was not a true 
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He believed with his understanding 
only, not with his heart. But Philip could not see the heart; so he hoped 
that Simon was sincere, as he professed to be. His real character, however, 
showed itself when the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the disciples in 
Samaria under the preaching of John and Peter. 

" Simon had joined himself to the disciples of Christ, but whatever there 
was of conviction, confession and change of life involved in the act, his heart 
was not right. Men of this class have always been found in the church. 
Nor, as a rule, do they remain undiscovered. For in the lives of men there 
occur events which bring out the master-principle, however carefully they 
seek to keep it from the view. A man may go through the routine of 
Christian duty, deceived or deceiving, for a considerable time ; but, sooner 
or later, some crisis will arrive when he will be thrown off his guard, and his 
true character appear, perhaps to his own painful surprise, certainly to that 
of those who are associated with him in church fellowship. — R. R. Mere- 
dith, D. D. 

Closet Promise. — I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which 
thou shalt go ; I will guide thee with mine eye. — Psalm xxxii. 8. 



" He chose this path for thee. 
No feeble chance, nor hard, relentless fate, 
But love. His love, hath placed thy footsteps 
here ; 
He knew the way was rough and desolate. 
Knew how the heart would often sink with 
fear ; 
Yet tenderly He whispers, ' Child, I see 
This path is best for thee ! ' 



" He chose this path for thee. 
Though \yell He knew sharp thorns would tear 
thy feet. 
Knew how the branches would obstruct thy 
way. 
Knew all the hidden dangers thou wouldst meet, 
Knew how thy faith would falter day by day; 
And still the whisper echoed, • Yes, I see 
This path is best for thee ! ' 



THURSDAY. 



633 



" He chose this path for thee ; 
And well He knew that thou must tread alone ! 
O'er rocky steps and where dark river flows, 
His loving arm will bear thee all the days ; 



steps more, and thou thyself shall see 
This path is best for thee ! " 

—Selected. 



FRIDAY. 

The Mission of Christ. — Isa. Ixi. 



1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me ; 
because the Lord hath anointed me to preach 
good tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me to 
bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty 
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to 
tketn that are bound ; 

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the 
Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God ; 
to comfort all that mourn ; 

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, 
to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of 
joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the 
spirit of heaviness ; that they might be called 
Trees of righteousness. The planting of the 
Lord, that he might be glorified. 

4 \ And they shall build the old wastes, they 
shall raise up the former desolations, and they 
shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of 
many generations. 

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your 
flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your 
ploughmen and your vinedressers. 

6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the 
Lord : men shall call you the Ministers of our 



God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, 
and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. 

7 \ For your shame ye shall have double ; 
and /or confusion they shall rejoice in their por- 
tion : therefore in their land they shall possess 
the double : everlasting joy shall be unto them. 

8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate rob- 
bery for burnt offering; and I will direct their 
work in truth, and I will make an everlasting 
covenant with them. 

9 And theii- seed shall be known among the 
Gentiles, and their offspring among the people : 
all that see them shall acknowledge them, that 
they are the seed 7uhich the Lord hath blessed. 

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my 
soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath 
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he 
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, 
as a bridegroom decketh himself ^v.\\ ornaments, 
and as a bride adorneth herself ^n'Cn her jewels. 

1 1 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, 
and as the garden causelh the things that are 
sown in it to spring forth ; so the Lord GoD will 
cause righteousness and praise to spring forth 
before all the nations. 



That this chapter refers to the Messiah is abundantly proved by the fact 
that the Lord Jesus expressly applied it to Himself (Luke iv. 2l). The 
Redeemer came that He might " preach good tidings " — that He might 
apply the balm of consolation to all hearts, and give them joy and peace. 
And the time will yet come when His mission shall be fully realized. 

'AH tlie processes of society are to exhibit more of Christ; so that at last 
the day .shall come when in all the earth, like a man without a pain from 
head to foot, mankind shall be without a sadness, or a sigh, or a sorrow ; 
when the whole globe, in all its parts, shall be filled full of Him who fiUeth 
all things, who is the head and animating brain of time and the world ; and 
the globe, no longer singing a requiem, no longer singing of things gloomy 
and sad, clothed with light and inspired with joy, shall go chanting in its 
rounds, and the heaven and the earth shall sing together. And so the 
consolation shall come." — H. IV. Beecher. 



Closet Promise. — O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge 
in the day of affliction. — ^Jer. xvi. 19. 



534 



FORTY-FIRST WEEK. 



And sure I aai that it is better to be sick, providing Christ comes to the 
bedside, and draws by the curtains, and says, " Courage ! I am thy salva- 
tion," than to be lusty and strong, and never be visited by Christ. — Ruther- 
ford. 



SATURDAY. 

Song of the Slandered Saint." — Psalm vii. 



1 O Lord my God, in thee do I put my 
trust : save me from all them that persecute me, 
and deliver me : 

2 I^est he tear my soul like a lion, rending it 
in pieces, while tliere is none to deliver. 

3 O Lord my God, if I have done this; if 
there be iniquity in'my hands; 

4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was 
at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him 
that without cause is mine enemy;) 

5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take 
it ; yea, let him tread down my life upon the 
earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. 

6 Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thy- 
self because of the rage of mine enemies : and 
awake for me to the judgment that thou hast 
commanded. 

7 So shall the congregation of the people 
compass thee about : for their sakes therefore 
return thou on high. 

8 The Lord shall judge the people: judge 
me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, 
and according to mine integrity t/iat is in me. 



9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come 
to an end ; but establish the just : for the right- 
eous God trieth the hearts and reins. 

10 My defence is of God, which saveth the 
upright in heart. 

1 1 God judgeth the righteous, and God is 
angry 7vith the wicked every day. 

12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; 
he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 

13 He hath also prepared for him the instru- 
ments of death ; he ordaineth his arrows against 
the persecutors. 

14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and 
hath conceived mischief, and brought forth 
falsehood. 

15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallei' 
into the ditch which he made. 

16 His mischief shall return upon his own 
head, and his violent dealing shall come down 
upon his own pate: 

17 I will praise the Lord according to his 
righteousness : and will sing praise to the name 
of the Lord most high. 



" Even this sorest of evils (Slander) may furnish occasion for a Psalm. 
What a blessing would it be if we could turn even the most disastrous event 
into a theme for song, and so turn the tables upon our great enemy. Let 
us learn a lesson from Luther, who once said, ' David made Psalms ; we 
also will make Psalms, and sing them as well as we can to the honor of our 
Lord, and to spite and mock the devil." — C. H. Spui'geon. 

" In the first and second verses the danger is stated, and prayer offered. 
Then the Psalmist most solemnly avows his innocence (3, 4, 5). The Lord 
is pleaded with to arise to judgment (6, 7). The Lord, sitting upon his 
throne, hears the renewed appeal of the slandered supplicant (8, 9). The 
Lord clears His servant, and threatens the wicked (10, 11, 12, 13). The 
slanderer is seen in vision bringing a curse upon his own head (14, 15, 16), 
while David retires from trial singing a hymn of praise to his righteous 
God. We have here a noble sermon upon that text : ' No weapon that is 
formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that riseth against 
thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.' " — C H. Spurgeon. 




JUDAS AND THE HIGH PRIESTS. 

And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went . 

and hanged himself. — Matt, xxvii. 5. 

536 



SATURDAY. 



537 



Closet Promise. — God is my salvation and my glory : the rock of my 
strength, and my refuge, is in God. — Psalm Ixii. 7. 

John Wesley caught the spirit of Gerhard Tersteegen and wrote : 



Each moment draw from earth away 
My heart that lowly waits Thy call ; 
Speak to my inmost soul, and say. 



' I am thy love, thy God, thy All ! ' 
To feel Thy power, to hear Thy voice, 
To taste Thy love, be all my choice." 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. . 

Breakfast Motto. — There is no want to them that fear Him. — Psa. 
xxxiv. 9. 

Weekly Proverb. — Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing. — 
Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— FIRST SEVEN GREAT EVENTS. 

Sunday. — The First Creation. — Gen. i. 1-25. 
Monday. — The First Man. — Gen. i. 26-31. 
Tuesday. — The First Sabbath. — Gen. ii. 1-17. 
Wednesday. — The First Wife. — Gen. ii. 1 8-25. 
Thursday. — The First Sin. — Gen. iii. 1-24. 
Friday. — The First Sacrifice.^Gen. iv. 1-7. 
Saturday. — The First Death. — Gen. iv. 8-16. 



THE LITTLE PRISONERS. 



In a queer little house, as round as a ball. 

And hung high in the air, 
Without any doors or windows at all, 
Some little things lived the long summer 
through ; 

And, strange to declare, 
As fast as they grew, their house grew, too. 

Summer had painted their little house green; 

For she felt very sure 
That a prettier color never was seen. 
But when autumn came, she said, with a frown ; 

" Green I cannot endure." 
And so she painted the little house brown. 

Prisoners they were without any doubt ; 

No light could come in, 
And there wasn't a crack where they could look 

out. 
So they had no way of knowing at all 

How fair to be seen 
Was the wonderful world beyond their dark 
wall. 



But when Jack Frost, a jolly old chap, 

Came along one day. 
On the little brown house he gave a sharp rap, 
And the walls snapped open ! The prisoners 
were free 

And out and away 
They went with a bound, the fair world to see. 

In a moment more they were all on the ground, 

Enjoying the air ; 
But scarcely had they a chance to look round. 
When two furry creatures, coming that way 

And'^pying them there. 
Ate them all up without any delay. 

What was the house as round as a ball, 
First green and then brown ? 

What were the names of the prisoners small? 

Who were the creatures that came that way 
And gobbled them down, 

So they lived not in freedom even a day ? 

—Mrs. F. A. Percy. 



538 FORTY-FIRST WEEK. 

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver, — Prov. 

XXV. II. 

" I don't want to hear naughty words," said little Charlie to one of his 
school-fellows. " It does not matter," said the other boy : " they go in at 
one ear, and out at the other." " No," replied Charlie ; " the worst of it 
is, when naughty words get in they stick ; so I mean to do my best to keep 
them out!' Dear boys and girls, my advice is, do not speak bad words ; and 
do not listen to them. Bad words have done more evil than battle, murder, 
and sudden death, all put together. They creep through the ear into the 
heart, call up all its bad passions, and tempt it to break God's command- 
ments. A few bad words got into the ear of Eve ; and they led her to eat 
the forbidden fruit, and thus to bring death into the world. Then, just 
think of it, you can never stop the progress of a bad or cruel word which 
you uttered carelessly perhaps; it will go on, and on, spreading evil on every 
hand. But a good word ! It is like sunshine~it scatters blessings wherever 
it goes. Let us love pure words ; cleayi words ; loving words. And don't 
forget, " That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account 
thereof in the day of judgment." 



THE WOODLAND GATE. 

I want to talk to you a little while about playing. It is not at all wrong 
for boys and girls to play. Some ill-tempered people may think it is, but 
we don't. No ; it is quite right for children to jump about, and swing on the 
" Woodland Gate," and laugh, and be happy. God intended them to play, 
and to have plenty of it. There is no sin in play — none whatever. But 
you may put sin into it. It is quite right, but you may make it quite wrong. 
Do you ask, " How can this be ? " I will tell you : i. By playing in the wrong 
place. I have found children playing in the house of God, even while kneel- 
ing down as though they were praying. Now I am sure that that was 
wrong. Such conduct is sinful. God is displeased with it. 2. By playing 
at the wrong time. When mother or father has told them to do something, 
and, instead of doing it, they went playing. That is disobedience — and that 
is sinful. 3. By playing in the wrong way. I saw a number of boys and girls 
playing, the other day. They were playing in the wrong way. Some were 
very rude. They took great pleasure in teasing others. All they did was 
in play, but it soon led to angry passions and sinful words, which are dis- 
pleasing in the sight of God. Always be care'ful whom you play with. Do 
not play with those who tell lies ; or those who curse and swear ; or those 
who cheat their school-fellows ; or those who are disobedient to their parents. 
Obedient children have become disobedient ; honest children have become 
thieves ; those who used to speak the truth have become liars ; and some, 
who a little while ago were very happy, have been made miserable by having 
wicked play-fellows. The Bible says — "A companion of fools shall be 
destroyed." 

(541) 



FORTY-SECOND WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — And to keep himself unspotted from the world. — James i. 27. 



We need not bid, for cloistered cell, 
Our neighbor and our work farewell, 
Nor strive to wind ourselves too high 
For sinful man beneath the sky. 



The trivial round, the common task, 
May furnish all we ought to ask; 
Room to deny ourselves, a road 
To bring us, daily, nearer God. 

—John Keblt. 



Christ " emptied himself." Behold our pattern. — Ambrose. 

How much mud and mire, how many slippery footsteps, and perchance 
heavy tumbles, might be avoided, if we could tread but six inches above the 
crust of the world. Physically, we cannot do this ; our bodies cannot; but 
it seems to me that our hearts and minds may keep themselves above moral 
mud-puddles. — Selected. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Saviour's Last WoRDS.-^Matt. xxviii. 16-20 ; Acts i. 1-14. 



16 T[ Then the eleven disciples went away 
into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had 
appointed them. 

1 7 And when they saw him, they worshipped 
him : but some doubted. 

18 \ And Jesus came and spake unto them, 
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven 
and in earth. 

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; 

20 Teaching them to observe ail things what- 
soever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am 
with you alway, eveti unto the end of the 
world. Amen. 



1 The former treatise have I made, O The- 
ophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and 
teach, 

2 Until the day in which he was taken up, 
after that he through the Holy Ghost had given 
commandments unto the apostles whom he had 
chosen : 

3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after 
his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen 
of them forty days, and speaking of the things 
pertaining to the kingdom of God : 

4 And, being assembled together with them, 
commanded them that they should not depart 

(542) 



from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the 
Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 

5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye 
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many 
days hence. 

6 When they therefore were come together, 
they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at 
this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? 

7 And he said unto them. It is not for you to 
know the times or th*e seasons, which the Father 
hath put in his own power. 

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the 
Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be 
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all 
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
part of the earth. 

9 And when he had spoken these things, 
while they beheld, he was taken up ; and a cloud 
received him out of their sight. 

10 And while they looked steadfastly toward 
heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood 
by them in white apparel ; 

11 Which also said. Ye men of Galilee, why 
stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this same 
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, 
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen 
him go into heaven. 

12 \ Then returned they unto Jerusalem 
from the mount called Olivet, which is from 
Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey. 



13 And when they were come in, they went 
up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, 
and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and 
Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the 



>AY. 54S 

son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas 
the brother of James. 

14 These all continued with one accord in 
prayer and supplication, with tlie women, and 
Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 



" The largeness of the Saviour's purpose : ' Go ye, and teach all nations.' 
What an amplitude there is in the gaze of Christ ! What a reach in His 
merciful design ! Calvary has not robbed Him of His love. With the 
freshness of the resurrection power upon Him, He bids men to look at 
mankind and conquer the world for Hitn. Our hearts are wofully small, 
and the little heart projects its littleness into everything at which it looks. 
From this littleness of hope and faith lift up yourself to the dream of the 
Saviour. His eye has never rested upon the man of whom He despaired." 
— R. Glover. 

"The heathen are perishing; they are dying by millions without Christ, 
and Christ's last commandment to us is, ' Go ye, teach all nations.' Are 
you obeying it ? 'I cannot go,' says one ; ' I have a family and many ties 
to bind me at home.' My dear brother, then, I ask you. Are you going as 
far as you can ? Do you travel to the utmost length of the providential 
tether which has fastened you where you are ? Can you say, ' Yes ? ' 
Then, what are you doing to help others to go?" — C. H. Spurgcon. 

Closet Promise. — These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy 
might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. — John xv. 1 1. 

" The joy of the Lord is your strength " to resist sin as well as to endure 
toil. Fulness of joy is the Christian's impervious shield. Christ has such a 
shield for every believer. "Ask, and receive, that your joy may be full." 
Some people, affecting contempt for joy, proclaim themselves wiser than the 
Master. The truth is, that no soul is intrenched in its bomb-proof till it is 
filled with God, with love, with joy. — Daniel Steele, D. D. 



MONDAY. 

The Widow's Oil. — 2 Kings iv. 1-7. 



1 Now there cried a certain woman of the 
wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, 
saying, Thy servant my husband is dead ; and 
thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord : 
and the creditor is come to tal<e unto him my 
two sons to be bondmen. 

2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do 
for thee ? tell me, what hast thou in the house? 
And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any 
thing in the housCj save a pot of oil. 



3 Then he said. Go, borrow thee vessels 
abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty ves- 
sels; borrow not a few. 

4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut 
the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt 
pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set 
aside that which is full. 

5 So she went from him, and shut the door 
upon her and upon her sons, who brought the 
vessels to her ; and she poured out. 



544 FORTY-SECOND WEEK. 



6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were 
full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a 
vessel. And he said unto her, 7 here is not a 
vessel more. And the oil stayed. 



7 Then she came and told the man of God. 
And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, 
and live thou and thy children of the rest. 



We see here how exactly the oil matches the capacity and number of the 
vessels provided. According to the provision made, so was the miraculous 
gift. The oil is Divine grace. As often as we pour Divine grace into the 
vessels of our daily acts, so long it flows and fills ; but if we stay our hand, 
the oil is stayed. 

" Go and ransack thy heart. Christian, from one end to the other, find out 
thy wants, acquaint thyself with all thy weaknesses, and set them before the 
Almighty, as the widow her empty vessels before the prophet ; hadst thou 
more than thou canst bring thou mayst have them all filled." — Gurnall. 

"As the widow's oil increased, not in the vessel, but by pouring out ; and 
as the barley bread in the Gospel multiplied, not in the whole loaf, but by 
breaking 3.nd distributing ; and as the grain bringeth increase, not when it 
lieth on a heap in the garner, but by scattering upon the land ; so are the 
spiritual graces best improved, not by keeping them together, but by dis- 
tributing them abroad. The talent gathereth nothing in the napkin, unless 
it be rust and canker ; but travelling in the bank, besides the good it doth as 
it passeth to and fro, it ever returneth home with increase." — Sanderson. 

If we use what God gives and value it, he who gathers much shall have 
nothing over, and he who gathers little shall have no lack. 

Closet Promise. — But My mercy shall not depart away from him. — 2 
Sam. vii. 15. 

The One remains, the many change and pass; I Life, like a dome of many-colored glass. 
Heaven's light forever shines. Earth's shad- Stains the white radiance of Eternity. 

ows fly ; I — Percy Bysshe Shelley. 

But wait, little fly, till you can understand for what the house was made; 
wait, little bird, till you can see your berry ripen in the advancing summer ; 
wait, critic, till you behold the other side of the tapestry ; and wait, atheist, 
till you can comprehend the plans of an infinite God. Thus much we can 
see — that evil is continually used as a dark material, out of which good is 
manufactured; that the mysteries of life prove the greatness of the soul, by 
showing that it can reach out to laws and facts which it cannot yet compre- 
hend. For if God has put into our very reason difficulties which are insolu- 
ble here, is not this a promise that they shall be solved hereafter ? — jfames 
Freeman Clarke, 



FORTY-SECOND WEEK. 



545 



TUESDAY. 

■Epistles of Christ." — 2 Cor. iii. 



1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves ? 
or need we, as some others, epistles of commen- 
dation to you, or letters of commendation from 
you ? 

2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, 
known and read of all men : 

3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared 
to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, 
written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the 
living God ; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly 
tables of the heart. 

4 And such trust have we through Christ to 
God-ward : 

5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to 
think any thing as of ourselves; but our suffi- 
ciency is of God ; 

6 Who also hath made us able ministers of 
the new testament ; not of the letter, but of the 
spirit : for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth 
life. 

7 But if the ministration of death, written 
and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that 
the children of Israel could not steadfastly 
behold the face of Moses for the glory of his 
countenance ; which glory was to be done 
away; 

8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit 
lie rather glorious ? 

9 For if the ministration of condemnation be 



glory, much more doth the ministration of right- 
eousness exceed in glory. 

10 For even that which vifas made glorious 
had no glory in this respect, by reason of the 
glory that excelleth. 

1 1 For if that which is done away was 
glorious, much more that which remaineth is 
glorious. 

12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we 
use great plainness of speech : 

13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over 
his face, that the children of Israel could not 
steadfastly look to the end of that which is 
abolished : 

14 But their minds were blinded : for until 
this day remaineth the same vail untaken away 
in the reading of the old testament ; which vail 
is done away in Christ. 

15 But even unto this day, when Moses is 
read, the vail is upon their heart. 

16 Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the 
Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 

17 Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where 
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 

18 But we all, with open face beholding as 
in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed 
into the same image from glory to glory, even 
as by the Spirit of the Lord. 



Every Christian is the Bible which worldly men read. Men think more 
of what the Bible teaches from us than from the word of the text; and our 
conduct, whatever it may be, they are apt to ascribe, in the main, to religion. 

"An epistle is a letter communicating the mind of one person to another. 
Such are ye — living letters of Christ to all believers concerning four facts : 
1st. That Jesus bought and now owns you, by right of redemption and re- 
generation. That ye are not your own, but His. 2d. That your present 
pre-eminence is the spiritual life ; ye are the work of the Spirit ; yours is a 
renewed heart, and not merely a change of beliefs ; not stony tablets, but 
fleshly hearts. 3d. That as the spiritual product of the Holy Spirit, you 
may be expected now to manifest His graces, and illustrate the efficacy of 
the Gospel by a holy life. 4th. That as His adopted and sanctified ones, 
your perfect love is given to Him, and your affections set on heaven. Re- 
member, men neglect His Word, but read you as His epistles." — Rev. yohn 
Parker. 



Closet Promise. — Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? or who 



546 



FORTY-SECOND WEEK. 



shall stand in His holy place ? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; 
who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall 
receive the blessing from the Lord. — Psalm xxiv. 3-5. 

We are proclaimed even against our wills ; 1 Will crop out here and there like belts of stone 

If we are silent, then our silence speaks. From shallow soil, discovering what we are. 

I think no man can make his lie hold good ; The thing most specious cannot seem the true ; 

Oi'.e way or other truth is understood. Who would appear clean, must be clean all 

through. 

The selfishness that with our lives has grown, — Alice Cary. 
Though outward grace its full expression bar, 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Refuge of Mortal Man. — Psalm xc. 



1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place 
in all generations. 

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, 
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the 
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou 
art God. 

3 Thou turnest man to destruction ; and 
sayest, Return, ye children of men. 

4 For a thousand years in thy sight are hut 
as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in 
the night. 

5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood ; 
they are as a sleep : in the morning they are like 
grass which groweth up. 

6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth 
up ; in the evening it is cut down, and wither- 
eth. 

7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and 
by thy wrath are we troubled. 

8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, 
our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 

9 For all our days are passed away in thy 



wrath : we spend our years as a tale thai is 
told. 

ID Thp days of our years are threescore years 
and ten ; and if by reason of strength they be 
fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and 
sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 

11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? 
even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. 

12 So teach tts to number our days, that we 
may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 

13 Return, O Lord, how long? and let it 
repent thee concerning ihy servants. 

14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy ; that we 
may rejoice and be glad all our days. 

15 Make us glad according to the days 
wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years 
wherein we have seen evil. 

16 Let thy work .nppear unto thy servants, 
and thy glory unto their children. 

17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God 
be upon us : and establish thou the work of our 
hands upon us ; yea, the work of our hands es- 
tablish thou it. 



This grand old Psalm is assigned to Moses. It was probably written by 
him near the close of the forty years during which Israel sojourned in the 
wilderness. Many generations of mourners have listened to this Psalm 
when standing around the open grave. It sings of the frailty of man, and 
the shortness of life, contrasting therewith the eternity of God, and founding 
thereon earnest appeals for compassion. 

" If man be ephemeral, God is eternal." — James Hamilton. 

"The everlastingness of which Moses speaks is to be referred not only to 
the essence of God, but also to His providence, by which He governs the 
world. He intends not merely that He is, but that He is God." — yoJm 
Calvin. 

" Thou hast been our divellitig-place in all generationsy " Yes ; he was 



WEDNESDAY. 



547 



casting in his mind how God had been the refuge of Jacob and Isaac, of 
Abraham, Noah, and all the patriarchs. Moses could take a retrospect of 
above a thousand years, which had all confirmed the truth. I can do more. 
At this point of time I can look back to the days of Moses and Joshua and 
David, and descending thence to 'the days of the Son of God upon earth, 
and of Paul and Peter, and all the saints of the Church down to the present 
hour ; and what a thousand years avouched to" Moses, three thousand now 
avouch to me; the Lord is the dwelling-place of' those that trust in Him 
from generation to generation. Yes ; and to Him who was the refuge of a 
Moses and an Abraham, I too in the day of trouble can lift my hands. De- 
lightful thought ! That great Being who, during the lapse of three thousand 
years, amidst the countless changes of the universe, has to this day re- 
mained unchanged, is my God." — Augustus F. Tholuck. 

Closet Promise. — Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all 
generations. — Psalm xc. I. 

We are like to Him with whom there is no past or future, with whom a 
day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, when we do 
our work in the great present, leaving both past and future to Him to whom 
they are ever present, and fearing nothing, because He is in our future as 
much as He is in our past, as much as, and far more than, we can feel Him 
to be in our present. Partakers thus of the divine nature, resting in that 
perfect All-in-all in whom our nature is eternal too, we walk without fear, 
full of hope and courage and strength to do His will, waiting for the endless 
good which He is always giving as fast as He can get us able to take it in. 
—G. Mac Donald. 

THURSDAY. 

Ruth's Choice. — Ruth i. 1-18. 



1 Now it came to pass in the days when the 
judges ruled, that there was a famine in the 
land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah 
went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and 
his wife, and his two sons. 

2 And the name of the man 7uas Elimelech, 
and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name 
of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathiles 
of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the 
country of Moab, and continued there. 

3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; 
and she was left, and her two sons. 

4 And they took them wives of the women 
of Moab ; the name of the one was Orpah, and 
the name of the other Ruth : and they dwelt 
there about ten years. 



5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of 
them ; and the woman was lett of her two sons 
and her husband. 

6 ^ Then she arose with her daughters in law, 
that she might return from the countiyof Moab: 
for she had heard in the country of Moab how 
that the Lord had visited his people in giving 
them bread. 

7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place 
where she was, and her two daughters in law 
with her ; and they went on the way to return 
unto the land of Judah. 

8 And' Naomi said unto her two daughters in 
law, Go, return each to her mother's house : the 
Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt 
with the dead, and with me. 



548 



FORTY-SECOND WEEK. 



9 The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, 
each of you in the house of her husband. 
Then she kissed them ; and they lifted up their 
voice, and wept. 

10 And they said unto her. Surely we will 
return with thee unto thy people. 

11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daugh- 
ters : why will ye go with me ? are there yet any 
more sons in my womb, that they may be your 
husbands ? 

12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way ; 
for I am too old to have a husband. If I 
should say, I have hope, if I should have a 
husband also to night, and should also bear 
sons ; 

13 Would ye tarry for them till they were 
grown ? would ye stay for them from having 
husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth 



me much for your salces that th« hand of the 

Lord is gone out against me. 

14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept 
again ; and Orpah kissed her mother in law ; 
but Ruth clave unto her. 

15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is 
gone back unto her people, and unto her gods : 
return thou after thy sister in law. 

16 And Ruth said. Entreat me not to leave 
thee, or to return from following after thee : 
for whither thou goest, I will go ; and where 
thou lodgest, I will lodge : thy people shall be 
my people, and thy God my God: 

17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will 
I be buried i the Lord do so to me, and more 
also, if aught but death part thee and me. 

18 When she saw that she was steadfastly 
minded to go with her, then she left speaking 
unto her. 



The little book of Ruth has been called " a garden of roses." It is 
neither strictly a history nor a biography. It is a beautiful story, fragrant 
with heart-life and home-life. 

The spell of the Book of Ruth is Ruth herself, and the chief charm of 
Ruth is her unselfish and devoted love. " Life and love lead to God. For 
life is God's gift, and love is of God's nature. ' We love, because He first 
loved us.' " Thus the story of Ruth is a fragment in a missionary report. 
It tells of the conversion of a Gentile and illustrates the wisest way of win- 
ning souls. Naomi is a typical home missionary, and Ruth is the pattern 
and prophecy of the success that crowns wise and loving labor. 

Ruth's choice finds a parallel in the sinner's choice of Christ, for this is 
certainly what the Spirit points to here. I. Itivas the choice of Naomi's God. 
" Thy God shall be my God." Any discipleship that does not embrace 
God in all the completeness of His righteousness, holiness, and truth, does 
not meet the requirement of our Lord's call to salvation. 2. // was the 
choice of Naomi's people. " Thy people shall be my people." Whosoever 
takes Christ as his beloved master, must take His people. 3. It was the 
choice of Naomi's country. " Whither thou goest, I will go." Tlie true 
Christian chooses the " new country " as his, and is content no longer to 
love the old world of sin, neither the things that are in it. 4. It was the choice 
of Naomi's condition. " Where thou lodgest I will lodge." The true Chris- 
tian accepts " whatsoever state " his discipleship may bring him into. 5. It 
was the choice of Naomi's death. " Where thou diest, I will die ; and there 
will I be buried." Thus, also, does the true believer choose Christ. 

Closet Promise, — He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth 
my soul : He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 
— Psalm xxiii. 2, 3. 



THURSDAY. 



549 



He leadeth me. 
Although I cannot see 
One step before my face, 
The way I cannot trace — 
My sight is dim, and so, He leadeth me. 

He holdeth me, 
Because I cannot be 
Left to my failing strength. 
For I should fall at length, 
I am so weak; and so, He holdeth me. 

He teacheth me : 
He giveth liberally 
His wisdom for my aid; 



Nor doth He me upbraid, 
Because I lack, but kindly teacheth me. 

He comforts me : 

He speaks so tenderly 

To cheer me on my way; 

And always bids me lay 

My cares on Him, and thus He comforts me. 

He loveth me : 
Ah ! well I know that He, 
My best, most loving friend, * 

Will lead me to the end ; 
I love Him, too, because He loveth me. 

Mrs. T. E. Burrows. 



FRIDAY. 



Christian Deportment.— Rom. xii. 



1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the 
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a 
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, 
■which is your reasonable service. 

2 And be not conformed to this world : but 
be ye transformed by the renewing of your 
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and 
acceptable, and perfect will of God. 

3 For I say, through the grace given unto 
me, to every man that is among you, not to 
think of himself more highly than he ought to 
think; but to think soberly, according as God 
hath d^alt to every man the measure of faith. 

4 For as we have many members in one 
body, and all members have not the same 
office: 

5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, 
and every one members one of another. 

6 Having then gifts differing according to the 
grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, 
let us prophesy according to the proportion of 
faith ; 

7 Or ministry, let us wait on OT<r ministering; 
or he that teacheth, on teaching ; 

8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation : he 
that giveth, let him do it with simplicity ; he that 
ruleth, with diligence ; he that sheweth mercy, 
with cheerfulness. 

9 Z^/ love be without dissimulation. Abhor 
that which is evil ; cleave to that which is good. 



10 Be kindly afifectioned 'one to another with 
brotherly love ; in honour preferring one another ; 

1 1 Not slothful in business ; fervent in spirit ; 
serving the Lord ; 

12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; 
continuing instant in prayer ; 

13 Distributing to the necessity of saints ; 
given to hospitality. 

14 Bless them which persecute you : bless, 
and curse not. 

15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and 
weep with them that weep. 

16 Be oi the same mind one toward another. 
Mind not high things, but condescend to men 
of low estate. Be not wise in your own con- 
ceits. 

17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. 
Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 

18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, 
live peaceably with all men. 

19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but 
rather give place unto wrath : for it is written, 
Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith the 
Lord. 

20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed 
him ; if he thirst, give him drink : for in so 
doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 

21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome 
evil with good. 



"Religion, teaches us to present to God our bodies as well as our souls ; 
for God is the Lord of both ; and if the body serves the soul in actions 
natural, and civil, and intellectual, it must not be eased in the only offices of 
religion, unless the body shall expect no portion of the rewards of religion, 
such as the resurrection, reunion, and glorification." — jferemy Taylor. 

When you consider what have been the mercies of God, does it not appear 



550 



FORTY-SECOND WEEK. 



a reasonable service ? Is it not reasonable that He who has given Himself 
to you should ask you to give yourself in a life of love to Him ? 

"Not slothful in hisiness, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord!' Work is not 
God's curse. Work is God's medicine. And the more pious the Christian 
is, the more industrious laborer he is. " Every day has occupations of 
usefulness enough to keep a man busy all the while. A man's secular in- 
dustry, his spiritual conflicts, and his life of benevolence are ample contents 
with which to grace and fill up every day as it comes." — H. W. Beccher. 

Paul tells us how to get rid of our enemies in verses 19-21. "To heap 
coals of fire on the head is, that, by kindness, our enemy grows angry with 
himself for having acted so wickedly toward us." — Ltdher. 

Closet Promise. — But when they deliver you up, take no thought how 
or what ye shall speak : for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye 
shall speak. — Matt. x. 19. 

You have a disagreeable duty to do at twelve o'clock. Do not blacken 
nine, and ten, and eleven, and all between, with the color of twelve. Do the 
work of each, and reap your reward in peace. So when the dreaded moment 
in the future becomes the present, you shall meet it walking in the light, 
and that light will overcome its darkness. The best preparation is the pres- 
ent well seen to, the last duty done. For this will keep the eye so clear 
and the body so full of light that the right action will be perceived at once, 
the right words will rush from the heart to the lips, and the man, full of the 
Spirit of God because he cares for nothing but the will of God, will trample 
on the evil thing in love, and be sent, it may be, in a chariot of fire to the 
presence of his Father, or stand unmoved amid the cruel mockings of the 
men he loves. — G. Mac Donald. 



SATURDAY. 

Paul is Stoned. — Acts xiv. 19-28. 



19 ^ And there came thither certain Jews 
from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the 
people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out 
of the city, supposing he had been dead. 

20 Howbeir, as the disciples stood round 
about him, he rose up, and came into the city: 
and the next day he departed with Barnabas to 
Derbe. 

21 And when they had preached the gospel 
to that city, and had taught many, they returned 
again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 

22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, ajid 
exhorting them to continue in the faith, and 



that we must through much tribulation enter 
into the kingdom of God. 

23 And when they had ordained them elders 
in every church, and had prayed with fasting, 
they commended them to the Lord, on whom 
they believed. 

24 And after they had passed throughout 
Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 

25 And when they had preached the word 
in Perga, they went down into Attalia : 

26 And thence sailed to Antioch. from 
whence they had been recommended to the 
grace of God for the worl; \vlii(.ii ilv ' ndfilled. 



SATURDAY. 551 



27 And when they were come, and had gath- 
ered the church together, they rehearsed all that 
God had done with them, and tiow he had 
opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. 



28 And there they abode long time with the 

disciples. 



" Once I was stoned " (2 Cor. xi. 25), he said of himself eight years after- 
ward, referring to this occasion. What marvellous revolutions occur in 
these lives of ours! He who little more than a dozen years before had 
assisted at the martyrdom of Stephen, abetting that murderous hail of stones 
under which he gave his life for Jesus, was now himself the sufferer in the 
same way, and, strange to say, in the same cause. Stephen " fell asleep " 
under that violence. But Paul had work yet to do for his Master. 

How much these apostles did and suffered in the cause of Christ ! We 
may learn from them many a lesson of patience, and diligence, and love. 
The apostles had much tribulation to suffer. Pain, and persecution, and loss 
of all things; but they never complained nor murmured. They knew that 
" through much tribulation they were to enter into the kingdom of God," 
and they were willing it should be so. And all God's people must suffer 
tribulation of some kind or other ; not, perhaps, such as Paul and Barnabas 
suffered ; but there are sorrows and troubles which all must bear. Let us 
not murmur at this. For we know it is better " to suffer affliction with the 
people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." 

Closet Promise. — He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye. 
— Zech. ii. 8. 

We are the portion the Lord takes out of the hand of His enemy and ours, 
and He cares for us as such. A love that is everlasting, a care that is 
likened to that which guards the pupil of the eye, a fidelity of attachment to 
which the mother's love finds no parallel — these have been expended on us, 
and are still in operation toward us. Can it be doubted, then that He cares 
for us ?— "fohn Hall, D. D. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou 
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. — Psalm xxxvii. 3. 
Weekly Proverb. — A rolling stone gathers no moss. — Greek. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— WONDERFUL APPEARANCES OF JESUS. 



Sunday. — To Mary. — John xx. 11-18. 
Monday. — At Emmaus. — Luke xxiv. 13-35. 



552 FORTY-SECOND WEEK. 

Tuesday. — At Jerusalem. — Luke xxiv. .36-49. 

Wednesday. — To Thomas. — John xx. 19-29. ^ 

Thursday. — On the Seashore. — John xxi. 1-24. 

Friday. — On a Mountain. — Matt, xxviii. 16-20. 

Saturday. — Among the Clouds. — Luke xxiv. 50-53 ; Acts i. 9-12. 



A GOOD NAME. 



Children, choose it. 
Don't refuse it, 

'Tis a precious diadem ; 
Highly prize it. 
Ne'er despise it. 

You will need it when you' 



Listen, my boy, I've a word for you. 
And this is the word, " Be true ! be true ! " 
At work or at play, in darkness or light. 
Be true, be true, and stand for the right. 



Love and cherish. 

Keep and nourish, 
'Tis more precious far than gold ; 

Watch and guard it. 

Ne'er discard it. 
You will need it when you're old. 



List, little girl, I've a word for you, 
'Tis the very same, " Be true ! be true ! " 
For truth is the sun, and falsehood the night ; 
Be true, little maid, and stand for the right. 
—Selected. 



Good success. — Josh. i. 8. 

I am very anxious that all my little friends shall have good success in 
life. To-day I want to tell you how some of the most world-renowned 
business men succeeded. The Rothschilds ascribe their success to the fol- 
lowing rules : " Be an off-hand man : make a bargain at once. Never have 
anything to do with an unlucky man or plan. Be cautious and bold." 
John Jacob Astor, when requested to furnish incidents of his life, replied, 
" My actions must make my life." Stephen Girard's fundamental maxim 
was, " Take care of the cents ; the dollars will take care of themselves." 
Amos Lawrence said, when asked for advice, " Young man, base all your 
actions upon a principle of right ; preserve your integrity of character ; and, 
in doing this, never reckon the cost." A. T. Stewart, the merchant-prince 
of New York, said, " No abilities, however splendid, can command success 
without intense labor and persevering application." Nicholas Longworth, 
the Cincinnati millionnaire, says, " I have always had these two things before 
me : Do what you undertake thoroughly. Be faithful in all accepted trusts." 
Our key to wealth is labor diXvdi perseverance. 




THE ORPHAN BOY. 

553 



THE ORPHAN BOY'S TALE, 

Stay, lady, stay, for mercy's sake, 

And hear a helpless orphan's tale ; 
Ah, sure my looks must pity wake — 

'Tis want that makes my cheek so pale; 
Yet I was once a mother's pride. 

And my brave father's hope and joy; 
But in the Nile's proud fight he died, 

And I am now an orphan boy ! 

Poor, foolish child ! how pleased was I, 

When news of Nelson's victory came, 
Along the crowded streets to fly. 

To see the lighted windows flame ! 
To force me home my mother sought — 

She could not bear to hear my joy ; 
For with my father's life 'twas bought — 

And made me a poor orphan boy ! 

The people's shouts were long and loud ; 

My mother, shuddering, closed her ears; 
"Rejoice ! Rejoice ! " still cried the crowd — 

My mother answer'd with her tears ! 
"Oh, why do tears steal down your cheek," 

Cried I, " while others shout for joy ? " 
She kiss'd me ; and, in accents weak. 

She call'd me her poor oi-phan boy ! 

" What is an orphan boy ? " I said ; 

When suddenly she gasp'd for breath. 
And her eyes closed ! I shriek'd for aid. 

But ah ! her eyes were closed in death. 
My hardships since I will not tell ; 

But now, no more a parent's joy, 
Ah, lady, I have learn'd too well 

What 'tis to be an orphan boy ! 

Oh, were I by your bounty fed ! — 

Nay, gentle lady, do not chide ; 
Trust me, I mean to earn my bread — 

The sailor's orphan boy has pride. 
Lady, you weep ; what is't you say ? 

You'll give me clothing, food, employ ? 
Look down, dear parents! look and see 

Your happy, happy orphan boy ! 

— Amelia Opie. 
(555) 



FORTY-THIRD W^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ; but the greatest of these 
is charity. — I Cor. xiii. 13 



Our Lord and Master 
When He departed, left us in His will 
As our best legacy on earth, the poor! 



These we have always with us ; had we not. 
Our hearts would grow as hard as are these 
stones. — Longfellow. 



There is no such merchant as the charitable man ; he gives trifles which 
he could not keep, to receive treasure which he cannot lose. — Quarks. 

We often excuse our own want of philanthropy by giving the name of 
fanaticism to the inore ardent zeal of others. — Selected. 

Do not say, " I will help thee to-morrgw ; " perchance that poor soul may 
not need thee to-morrow ; perchance thou mayest have nothing to give to- 
morrow ; perchance there shall be no such day as to-morrow. — Donne. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Lots of the Righteous and the Wicked. — Psalm xxxvii. 



1 Fret not thyself because of evil doers, 
neither be thou envious against the workers of 
iniquity. 

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the 
grass, and wither as the green herb. 

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good ; so shalt 
thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be 
fed. 

4 Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and he 
shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 

5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust 
also in him ; and he shall bring it to pass. 

6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness 
as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for 
him : fret not thyself because of him who pros- 
pereth in his way, because of the man who 
bringeth wicked devices to pass. 

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath : fret 
not thyself in any wise to do evil. 

9 For evil doers shall be cut off: but those 
that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the 
earth. 

ID For yet a little while, and the wicked 
shall not be : yea, thou .shalt diligently con- 
sider his place, and it shall not be. 

II But the meek shall inherit the earth; and 
shall delight themselves in the abundance of 
peace. 

tfi56) 



12 The wicked plotteth against the just, and 
gnasheth upon him with his teeth. 

13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he 
seeth that his day is coming. 

14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, 
and have bent their bow, to cast down the poot 
and needy, and to slay such as be of upright 
conversation. 

15 Their sword shall enter into their own 
heart, and their bows shall be broken. 

16 A little that a righteous man hath is bet- 
ter than the riches of many wicked. 

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be 
broken: but the Lord upholdeth the right- 
eous. 

18 The Lord knoweth the days of the up- 
right : and their inheritance shall t)e for ever. 

19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil 
time : and in the days of famine they shall be 
satisfied. 

20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies 
of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they 
shall consume ; into smoke shall they consume 
away. 

21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not 
again : but the righteous sheweth mercy, and 
giveth. 

22 For such as be blessed of him shall in- 



557 



herit the earth ; and they that be cursed of him 
shall be cut off. 

23 The steps of a good man are ordered by 
the Lord : and he delighteth in his way. 

24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly 
cast down : for the Lord upholdeth him with 
his hand. 

25 I have been young, and now am old ; yet 
have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor Jiis 
seed begging bread. 

26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth ; and 
his seed is blessed. 

27 Depart from evil, and do good ; and dwell 
for evermore. 

28 For I he Lord loveth judgment, and for- 
saketh n')t his saints ; they are preserved for 
ever : but the seed of the wicked shall be cut 
off. 

29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and 
dwell therein for ever. 

30 The mouth of the righteous speaketh 
wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. 

31 The law of his God is in his heart ; none 
of his steps shall slide. 



32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, and 
seeketh to slay him. 

33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand, 
nor condemn him when he is judged. 

34 Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and 
he shall exalt thee to inherit the land : when the 
wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. 

35 I have seen the wicked in great power, 
and spreading himself like a green b.iy tree. 

36' Yet he passed away, and, lo, he ivas not : 
yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. 

37 Mark the perfect mau, and behold the 
upright: for the end of tJiat man is peace. 

38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed 
together : the end of the wicked shall be cut 
off 

39 But the salvation of the righteous is of 
the Lord : he is their strength in the time of 
trouble. 

40 And the Lord shall help them, and de- 
liver them : he shall deliver them from the 
wicked, and save them, because they trust in 
him. 



This Psalm was written by David in his old age (verse 25) and is the 
more valuable as the record of so varied an experience. " The great riddle 
of the prosperity of the wicked and the affliction of the righteous, which 
has perplexed so many, is here dealt with in the light of the future, and 
fretfulness and repining are most impressively forbidden. It is a Psalin in 
which the Lord hushes most sweetly the too common repinings of His 
people, and calms their minds as to His present dealings with His own 
chosen flock, and the wolves by whom they are surrounded." — C. H. Sp7ir- 
geon. 

"A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many 
wicked!' This is a fine proverb. " Therefore, never let a Christian murmur 
because he hath but little, but rather let him be still a-blessing of that God 
that hath blessed his little, and doth bless his little, and that will bless his 
little to him." — Thomas Brooks. 

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord!' "When this Pilot 
undertakes to steer their course, their vessel shall never split upon the rock, 
run upon the sand, or spring a leak, so as to sink in the seas. To be sure 
He will see them safe in their harbor." — James Janeivay. 

Luther closes the exposition of this Psalm with the words, " Oh, shame 
on our faithlessness, mistrust and vile unbelief, that we do not believe such 
rich, powerful, consolatory, declarations of God, and take up so readily 
with little grounds of offence, whenever we but hear the wicked speeches of 
the ungodly. Help, O God, that we may once attain to right faith. 
Amen." 
31 



558 



FORTY-THIRD WEEK. 



Closet Promise. — Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear 
Him, upon them that hope in His mercy. — Psalm xxxiii. i8. 



• God hath kept me hitherto ; 
Can He cease, then, to be true ? 
Why should I just now despair? 
Can He weary of His care ? 



Hence, tormenting terrors, hence ! 
God shall be my confidence ; 
Let Him lead me as He will, 
Oh, my soul, and be thou still," 



MONDAY. 



Victory in the Last Battle. 



Cor. 



3S-S8. 



35 But some tnatt will say, How are the 
dead raised up ? and with what body do they 
come ? 

36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not 
quickened, except it die : | 

37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest 1 
not that body that shall be, but bare grain, 
it may chance of wheat, or of some other 
grain : 

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased | 
him, and to every seed his own body. 

39 All flesh is not the same flesh : but tAerf 
is one ^ind of flesh of men, another flesh of 
beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 

40 There arc also celestial bodies, and bodies 
terrestrial : but the glory of the celestial is one, 
and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another 
glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
stars ; for one star differeth from another star in 
glory. 

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. 
It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorrup- 
tion : 

43 It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in 
gloiy : it is sown in weakness, it is raised in 
power : 

44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a 
spiritual body. There is a natural body, and 
there is a spiritual body. 

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam 
was made a living soul ; the last Adam was 
made a quickening spirit. 

46 Howbeit that was not first which is spirit- 
ual, but that which is natural ; and afterward 
that which is spiritual. 



47 The first man is of the earth, earthy : the 
second man is the Lord from heaven. 

48 As is the earthy, such are they also that 
are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are 
they also that are heavenly. 

49 And as we have borne the image of the 
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the 
heavenly. 

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and 
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God 
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall 
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye 
at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound 
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
we shall be changed. 

53 For this corruptible must put on incor 
ruption, and this mortal viust put on immor 
tality. 

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on 
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on 
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the 
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up 
in victory. 

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, 
where is thy victory ? 

56 The sting of death is sin ; and the strength 
of sin is the law. 

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the 
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye 
steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the 
work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that 
your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 



" Since Christ has crossed and recrossed it, the river Death has lost its 
terror to the Christian." 

" Death is not a thing to be dreaded by the believer : it is ' a sleep.' 
Tired, we lay our heads on Jesus' bosom and awake in heaven ! " 

" Paul saw our grave in the furrow of the plough ; our burial in the corn 
dropped into the soil, and our resurrection in the grain bursting its sheath 
to wave its head in the summer sunshine." 



MONDAY. 



559 



" The seal of the Sanhedrim, a regiment of soldiers from the tower of 
Antonio, floor of rock, roof of rock, wall of rock, niche of rock, cannot 
keep Clirist in the crypt. Though you pile upon us all the boulders of the 
mountains, you cannot keep us down. The door of the tomb will be lifted 
off its hinges and flung flat in the dust." — Tabnage. 

" Looking at those grassy mounds in the light of this truth, the eye of 
faith sees them change into a field sown with the seeds of immortality. 
Blessed field ! What flowers shall spring there ! What a harvest shall be 
gathered there ! " — Dr. GutJiric. 

Oh ! the comfort of this belief in the resurrection of our loved dead ! 
Oh, the grave is cruel ! With teeth of stone it clutches for its prey. Be- 
tween the closing gates of the sepulchre our hearts are mangled and 
crushed. But a brighter day is yet to dawn. The resurrection morn will 
come. Abraham will shake off the dust of Machpelah and arise with 
Sarah by his side. David will come with harp in hand. The village church- 
yard and family burial-grounds will open their rusty gates. Be still, mother, 
your child will not be left behind ; and you, ye old men, the companions of 
your youth and strong manhood will break their cerements and live again ! 
Wherefore comfort one another with these thoughts. 

Closet Promise. — To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and 
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power 
of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. — 
I Pet. i. 4, 5. 

What a heritage ! It is called a Kingdom, Inheritance, Paradise, Life 
Eternal. " Thus our largest and best conceptions of greatness, and glory, 
and durability, and felicity, are appealed to, and then surpassed — Immeasur- 
ably. For when time is over, and death i's dead, and probation is ended, 
and the destiny of all determined, somewhere God will do His best for the 
bliss of His redeemed ones. What a quantity is that — God's best, through 
all eternity, for those who, during this brief moment of earthly life, washed 
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 



TUESDAY. 

Vanity of Riches. — Eccles. v. 9-20. 



9 Moreover the profit of the earth is for all : 
the king himself is served by the field. 

10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied 
with silver ; nor he that loveth abundance with 
increase. This is also vanity. 



1 1 When goods increase, they are increased 
that eat them : and what good is there to the 
owners thereof, saving the beholding of them 
with their eyes ? 

12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, 



560 



FORTY-THIRD WEEK. 



whether he eat little or much : but the abun- 
dance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. 

13 There is a sore evil which I have seen 
under the sun ; namely, riches kept for the 
owners thereof to their hurt. 

14 But those riches perish by evil travail: 
and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in 
his hand. 

1 5 As he came forth of his mother's womb, 
naked shall he return to go as he came, and 
shall take nothing of his labour, which he may 
carry away in his hand. 

16 And this also is a sore evil, (hat in all 
points as he came, so shall he go ; and what 
profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? 



17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, 
and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his 
sickness. 

18 Behold that which I have seen : it is good 
and comely /or one to eat and to drink, and to 
enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh 
under the sun all the days of his life, which God 
giveth him : for it is his portion. 

19 Every man also to whom God hath given 
riches and wealth, and hath given him power to 
eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to 
rejoice in his labour ; this is the gift of God. 

20 For he shall not much remember the days 
of his life ; because God answereth him in the 
joy of his heart. 



Do not be over-anxious about riches. Get as much of true wisdom and 
goodness as you can ; but be satisfied with a very moderate portion of this 
world's goods. Riches may prove a curse as well as a blessing. 

" I was walking through an orchard, looking about me, when I saw a low 
tree laden more heavily with fruit than the rest. On a nearer examination, 
it appeared that the tree had been dragged to the very earth, and broken by 
the weight of its treasures. 'Oh,' said I, gazing on the tree, 'here lies one 
who has been ruined by his riches ! ' . . . When I see so many rich people, 
as I do, caring so much for their bodies and so little for their souls, I pity 
them from the bottom of my heart, and sometimes think there are as many 
ruined by riches as by poverty. ' They that will be rich fall into temptation 
and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in 
destruction and perdition.' The prayer will suit you, perhaps, as well as it 
does me, ' Give me neither poverty nor riches ; feed me with food convenient 
for me ; lest I be full and deny Thee, and say. Who is the Lord ? or lest I 
be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.' " — 0/d Humphrey. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of lan- 
guishing : Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. — Psalm xli. 3. 

The following lines were written by a lady who laid upon a bed of extreme 
suffering for many years. 



• Shut in ! " did you say, my sisters? 

Oh no ! Only led away 
Out of the dust and turmoil, 

The burden and heat of the day, 
Into the cool green pastures. 

By the waters calm and still. 
Where I may lie down in quiet. 

And yield to my Father's will, 

Earth's ministering ones come round me. 
With faces kind and sweet. 



And we sit and learn together 
At the loving Saviour's feet; 

And we talk of life's holy duties. 
Of the crosses that lie in the way, 

And they must go out and bear them, 
While I lie still and pray. 

I am not shut in, my sisters. 
For the four walls fade away, 

And my soul goes out in gladness. 
To bask in the glorious day. 



ON THE ROAD TO CAJ,VAR\\ 

And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a 

skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. — John xix. 17. 

562 



TUESDAY, 



563 



This wasting, suffering body, 
With its weight of weary pain, 

Can never dim my vision, 
My spirit cannot restrain. 

I wait the rapturous ending — 
Or, rather, the entering in 



Through the gates that stand wide open. 

But admit no pain or sin. 
I am only waiting, sisters. 

Till the Father calls, "Come home!" 
Waiting, with my lamp all burning, 

Till the blessed Bridegroom come. 

— Selected. 



WEDNESDAY. 

Have Faith in God." — Mark xi. 12-26. 



12 \ And on the morrow, when they were 
come from Bethany, he was hungry : 

13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having 
leaves, he came, if haply he might find any 
thing thereon: and when he came to it, he- 
found nothing but leaves ; for the time of figs 
was Yioiyet. 

14 And Jesus answered and said unto it. No 
man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And 
his disciples heard it. 

15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus 
went into the temple, and began to cast out 
them that sold and bought in the temple, and 
overthrew the tables of the money changers, and 
the seats of them that sold doves ; 

16 And would not suffer that any man should 
carry any vessel through the temple. 

17 And he taught, saying unto them. Is it not 
written. My house shall be called of all nations 
the house of prayer ? but ye have made it a den 
of thieves. 

18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, 
and sought how they might destroy him: for 
they feared him, because all the people was as- 
tonished at his doctrine. 



19 And when even was come, he went out 
of the city. 

20 And in the morning, as they passed by, 
they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 

21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith 
unto him. Master, behold, the fig tree which 
thou cursedst is withered away. 

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them. 
Have faith in God. 

23 For verily I say unto you. That whosoever 
shall say unto this mountain. Be thou removed, 
and be thou cast into the sea ; and shall not 
doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those 
things which he saith shall come to pass ; he 
shall have whatsoever he saith. 

24 Therefore I say unto you. What things 
soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye 
receive them, and ye shall have them. 

25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye 
have aught against any; that your Father also 
which is in heaven may forgive you your tres- 
passes. 

26 But if ye- do not forgive, neither will your 
Father which is in heaven forgive your tres- 
passes. 



" Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, 
beheve that ye receive them, and ye shall have them " (verse 24). This is 
a most wonderful promise. It is not, however, an unconditional promise ; 
this marvellous " what things soever " depends upon certain great condi- 
tions. The word believe is the key to any difficulty in accepting this decla- 
ration literally. We cannot believe whatever we please. It is only the 
Spirit of God Who can enable a man to believe that God will answer his 
prayer. Then He will grant the petition. 

" Prayer is the bow, the promise is the arrow ; faith is the hand which 
draws the bow, and sends the arrow with the heart's message to heaven. 
The bow without the arrow is of no use, and the arrow without the bow is 
of little worth, and both without the strength of the hand are to no purpose. 
Neither the promise without prayer, nor prayer without the promise, nor 
both without faith avail the Christian anything. What was said of the 
Israelites, ' They could not enter in because of unbelief,' the same may be 



564 FORTY-THIRD WEEK. 

said of many of our prayers ; they cannot enter heaven, because they are not 
put up in faith." — Slater. 

Therefore, " Have faith in God." 

Closet Promise. — Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any man 
hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with 
him, and he with Me. — Rev. iii, 20. 

The richest and most joyous hours in a believer's experience are those in 
which he tastes of Christ's presence in close spiritual communion. Some- 
times when feasting on such words as those in the fourteenth chapter of 
John, sometimes at the Lord's table, sometimes in secret prayer, Jesus comes 
into the soul just as He did into that upper room where the disciples were 
assembled. The believer feels the warmth and light of His countenance. 
His left hand is under our head, and His right hand doth embrace us. We 
can roll off our cares and worries and doubts upon His everlasting arm. 
Such times of close companionship with Jesus are our holiest and happiest 
hours, — T. L. Cuyler, D.D. 



THURSDAY. 

Prayer for Deliverance. — Psalm Ivii. 



1 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful 
unto me : for my soul trusteth in thee : yea, in 
the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, 
until these calamities be overpast. 

2 I will cry unto God most high ; unto God 
that performeth all things for me. 

3 He shall send from heaven, and save me 
from the reproach of him that would swallow 
me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy 
and his truth. 

4 My soul is among lions : and I lie even 
among them that are set on fire, even the sons 
of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and 
their tongue a sharp sword. 

5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens ; 
let thy glory be above all the earth. 



6 They have prepared a net for my steps; 
my soul is bowed down : they have digged a 
pit before me, into the midst whereof they are 
fallen themselves. Selah. 

7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart 
fixed : I will sing and give praise. 

8 Awake up, my glory ; awake, psaltery and 
harp : I myself will awake early. 

9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the 
people : I will sing unto thee among the 
nations. 

10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, 
and thy truth unto the clouds. 

11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the 
heavens : let thy glory be above all the earth. 



This Psalm relates to the flight of David from Saul into the cave. This 
is recorded in i Sam. xxii. 

"This song of complaint was written during the hours of suspense which 
David spent there, to wait until the calamity was overpast (verse 2) ; in 
which he only gradually gains a stout heart (verse 8). His life was really 
suspended by a hair, if Saul or any of his attendants had espied him! " — 
Augustus F. Thobtck. 

"We have here prayer, 1-6, and praise, 7-1 1. The hunted one takes a 



THURSDAY. 



565 



long breath of prayer, and when he is fully inspired, he breathes out his 
soul in jubilant song." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

" Sincerity makes the Christian sing, when he hath nothing to his supper ; 
David was in none of the best case when in the cave, yet we never find 
him merrier: his heart makes sweeter music than ever his harp did," — 
Win. Giirnall. 

" It should alarm the wicked that they are contending with a people who 
sing and shout on the battle-field. Yea, they never sing louder than when 
most distressed and afflicted. Whether saints conquer or are conquered, 
they still sing on. Blessed be God for that. Let sinners tremble at con- 
tending with men of a spirit so heavenly." — Wni. S. Phuner. 

Closet Promise. — Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obey- 
eth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? 
let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. — Isa. 1. lo. 

He has an especial tenderness of love towards thee for that thou art in 
the dark and hast no light, and His heart is glad when thou dost arise and 
say, " I will go to my Father." For He sees thee through all the gloom, 
through which thou canst not see Him. Say to Him, " My God, I am very 
dull and low and hard ; but Thou art wise and high and tender, and Thou 
art my God. I am Thy child. Forsake me not." Then fold the arms of 
thy faith, and wait in quietness until light goes up in the darkness. Fold 
the arms of thy Faith, I .say, but not of thy Action ; bethink thee of some- 
thing that thou oughtest to do, and go and do it, if it be but the sweeping 
of a room, or the preparing of a meal, or a visit to a friend : heed not thy 
feelings : do thy work. — G. MacDonald. 



FRIDAY. 

Elijah's Translation. — 2 Kings ii. 9-18. 



9 \ And it came to pass, when they were 
gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask 
what I shall do for thee, before I be taken 
away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, 
let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 

10 And he said. Thou hast asked a hard 
thing : nevertheless, if thou see me when I am 
taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee ; but 
if not, it shall not be so. 

11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, 
and talked, that, behold, there appea7-ed a. 
chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted 
them both asunder ; and Elijah went up by a 
whirlwind into heaven. 

\2 ^ And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My 



father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the 
horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more ; 
and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent 
them in two pieces. 

13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that 
fell from him, and went back, and stood by the 
bank of Jordan ; 

14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that 
fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, 
Where is the Lord God of Elijah ? And when 
he also had smitten the waters, they parted 
hither and thither : and Elisha went over. 

15 And when the sons of the prophets which 
■were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, 
The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And 



566 



FORTY-THIRD WKEK, 



they came to meet him, and bowed themselves 
to the ground before him. 

i6 ^ And they said unto him, Beliold now, 
there be with thy servants fifty strong men ; let 
them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master : 
lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath 
taken him up, and cast him upon some moun- 
tain* or into some valley. And he said, Ye 
shall not send. 



17 And when they urged him till he was 
ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore 
fifty men; and they sought three days, but 
found him not. 

18 And when they came again to him, (for 
he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I 
not say unto you, Go not ? 



Elijah's translation is intended to be a representation of a good man's 
death in its noblest aspect. In all the various forms in which the inevitable 
day of death may come upon us, what we should most wish for would be 
that our death, like Elijah's, should seem to those we leave behind but as 
the completion of that which they have already known. Elijah had seemed in 
life a firmer defence and guard to his country than all the chariots and 
horsemen that were ever pouring in upon them froin the surrounding tribes, 
and so he seemed when he passed away lost in the flames of a fiery chariot 
and the fiery horsemen. 

Elijah's work was done ; but the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha, who 
was himself altogether different in aspect, in character, in life, from his 
mighty predecessor. At first the succession seems like a deterioration. 
The glow, the rush, the genius, the inspiration, the awe, the prowess, seem 
to have died with the master. Yet if the Baptist came in the spirit and 
power of Elias, it was " Eliseus the prophet " who dimly prefigured Christ. 

" In what follows after Elijah has been taken up, we have a dim fore- 
shadowing of the history of the Church, above all the Apostolic Church, 
after the ascension of its Lord, (i) Elisha wrought a miracle with the 
mantle of Elijah ; the mantle of our ascending Lord has fallen upon the 
Church. (2) Elisha wasted not his time in idle lamentations ; he girt him- 
self to his own work. The Apostles returned to Jerusalem ; and when they 
received the promise of the Father, they became witnesses to Christ in 
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of 
the earth.' " — R. C. Trench. 

Closet Promise. — The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to 
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. — Rom. viii. 18. 



What will it matter, by and by. 

Whether my path below was bright, 
Whether it wound through dark or light. 
Under a gray or a golden sky, 
When I look back on it, by and by ? 

What will it matter, by and by, 
Whether unhelped I toiled alone. 
Dashing my foot against a stone, 



Missing the charge of the angel nigh. 
Bidding me think of the by and by ? 

What will it matter, by and by. 
Whether with laughing joy I went 
Down through the years, with a glad intent; 
Never behaving, nay, not I, 
Tears would be sweeter by and by ? 



567 



What will it matter, by and by, 

Whether with cheek to cheek I've lain 
Close by the pallid angel, Pain ; 

Soothing myself through sob and sigh ? 

"All will be elsewise by and by ! " 

What will it matter ? Naught, if I 
Only am sure the way I've trod. 
Gloomy or gladdened, leads to God ; 

Questioning not of the how, the why. 

If I but reach Him by and Isy. 



What will I care for the unshared sigh. 

If, in my fear of slip or fall. 

Closely I've clung to Christ through all; 
Mindless how rough the path might lie. 
Since He will smooth it by and by? 

Ah ! it will matter, by and by. 

Nothing but this — that joy or pain 

Lifted me skyward, helped me gain. 

Whether through rack or smile or sigh, 

Heaven — home — all in all, by and by! 

—Selected. 



SATURDAY. 

Watching the Heart. — Prov. iv. 



1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a 
father, and attend to know understanding. 

2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye 
not my law. 

3 For I was my father's son, tender and only 
beloved in the sight of my mother. 

4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let 
thine heart retain my words : keep my com- 
mandments, and live. 

5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it 
not; neither decline from the words of my 
mouth. 

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve 
thee : love her, and she shall keep thee. 

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore 
get wisdom : and with all thy getting get under- 
standing. 

8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee ; she 
shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost em- 
brace her. 

9 She shall give to thine head an ornament 
of gracej a crown of glory shall she deliver to 
thee. 

10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings ; 
and the years of thy life shall be many. 

Ill have taught thee in the way of wisdom ; 
I have led thee in right paths. 

12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be 
straitened; and when thou runnest, thou .shalt 
not stumble. 

13 TaKe fast hold of instruction; let her not 
go: keep her; for she is thy life. 



14 \ Enter not into the path of the wicked, 
and go not in the way of evil 7)ien. 

15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and 
pass away. 

16 For they sleep not, except they have done 
mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless 
they cause some to fall. 

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and 
drink the wine of violence. 

18 But the path of the just is as the shining 
light, that shineth more and more unto the per- 
fect day. 

19 The way of the wicked is as darkness : 
they know not at what they stumble. 

20 \ My son, attend to my words; incline 
thine ear unto my sayings. 

21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; 
keep them in the midst of thine heart. 

22 For they are life unto those that find them, 
and health to all their flesh. 

23 \ Keep thy heart with all diligence ; for 
out of it are the issues of life. 

24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and 
perverse lips put far from thee. 

25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine 
eyelids look straight before thee. 

26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all 
thy ways be established. 

27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the 
left : remove thy foot from evil. 



" * Thine heart ' is the source and centre of moral character — the throne- 
room whence issue the forces that rule the life — give its supreme occupancy 
to God. ' The issues of life ' come from it — let God, the Source of spiritual 
life, live and rule in it. For some reason 'diligence' is required to keep 
it ; the speared sentinel and the sleepless eye. Is it because ' the heart is 
deceitful above all things ? ' Is it that this lost, all is lost ? this polluted, all 



568 



FORTY -THIRD WEEK. 



decays? Or is it that this kept pure, and you see God? Keep it, but do 
not freeze it. Keep it for Him." 

" Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil 
men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away " (verses 14, 15). 

" It is said, in one of the old ' Lives of the Saints,' that the devil found a 
young man at a theatre and took possession of him, and the saint rebuked 
him, and said, ' Why do you take one of the Lord's children ? ' and the devil 
said, ' What business has one of the Lord's children on my ground ? ' It is 
thus in temptation. Men tempt the devil. They send a message to him, 
inviting him to come and take them. ... It is never safe for a man to run 
so near to the line of right and wrong that, if he should lose a wheel, he 
would go over. You should keep so far from the precipice that, if your 
wagon breaks down, there is room enough between you and the precipice ; 
otherwise you cannot be safe." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man. — Psalm 



Clothe with life the weak intent, 
Let me be the thing I meant ; 
Let me find in Thy employ 
Peace that dearer is than joy. 



Out of self to love be led. 
And to heaven acclimated; 
Until all things sweet and good 
Seem my natural habitude. 

— John Greenleaf Whit tier. 



Our thoughts are the epochs of our lives ; all else is but a journal of the 
winds that blew while we were here. — Hetiry D. Thoreau. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — He fiUeth thee with the finest of the wheat. — 
Psalm cxlvii. 14. 

Weekly Proverb. — Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, 
wealthy and wise. — Poor Richard. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— SCENES IN THE LIFE OF NOAH. 

Sunday. — Noah Findeth Grace. — Gen. vi. 1-13. 

Monday. — Noah's Faith. — Gen. vi. 14-22. 

Tuesday. — Entering the Ark. — Gen. vii. 1-24. 

Wednesday. — The Ark Resteth on Ararat. — Gen. viii. I-I2. 

Thursday. — Leaving the Ark. — Gen. viii. 13-22. 

Friday. — God Blesses Noah. — Gen. ix. 1-7. 

Saturday. — The Covenant of the Rainbow. — Gen. ix. 8-17. 



THE CHILUREN S CQRNKR. 



669 



TWO MARJORIES. 



The home of one is a stately dwelling 
Just at the head of a garden-square, 
Whei-e the songs of birds in the trees are swell- 
ing, 
And the spray of a fountain fills the air ; 
The other lives in an alley bare 
Of leaf and bloom, with her toiling mother; 
But over their play 
At school each day 
The Marjories came to love each other. 

Last year, when ihey talked of the summer 
over, 

Marjorie-second heard with a sigh : 
'• O ! how happy to be a rover ; 

Nothing of forest or field had I." 

Marjorie-first made sweet reply, 



And counsel took of mamma's pity : 

" What can I do, 

That Marjie, too. 
May leave, next summer, the dusty city ? " 

She gave up the toys, and the bonbons' pleas- 
ure, 
The Paris doll with its toilets' pride. 
And laid the sum of her gathered treasure 
In a Japanese casket safe aside; 
And so, with the next bright summer tide, 
Over the clover-fields together. 
By hollow and hill 
And meadow-rill, 
Botli Marjories played in the golden weather ! 
— Kate Putnam Osgood in Wide- Awake. 



Love your enemies. — Matt. v. 44. 

My little friends, you will find it hard to go through life and do what is 
right and not make some enemies. But you must not Jiate them. You 
must treat them kindly ; pray for them; love them. A little girl one day 
went to her mother to show some fruit that had been given her. " Your 
friend," said the mother, " has been very kind." " Yes," said the child. 
" She gave me more than these, but I have given some away." The 
mother inquired to whom she had given them, when she answered, " I gave 
them to a girl who pushes me off the path and makes faces at me." On 
being asked why she gave them to her, she replied, " Because I thought it 
would make her know that I wish to be kind to her, and she will not, per- 
haps, be rude and unkind to me again." Now, that little girl treated her 
enemy kindly. That is what the Bible means when it says : " If thine enemy 
hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink : for, in so doing, thou shalt 
heap coals of fire upon his head " — that is, by your kindly treatment you 
will melt and overcome him. Thus, oftentimes, our bitterest enemy becomes 
our best and most faithful friend. 



THE NEAREST WAY HOME. 

I know you will like this picture. Most boys and girls like to play in the 
water. They are never better suited than w hen they get their shoes and 
stockings off and go wading. These children have taken off theirs and are 
carrying them in their hands. The boy is a little timid* and hardly knows 
whether to venture or not, but his sister is encouraging him to take a step. 
The water is not deep and they can easily wade across. Close by are some 
beautiful water lilies, and I imagine they will stop and pick some as they 
cross over. I wonder how many of my little readers live near the water. 
Perhaps those of you who do not, often visit your little friends and relatives 
who live by some river or lake. It may be the great ocean. Well, now, 
did you ever have father or mother tell you not to play near the water ? 
Not to get into boats along the banks or go in wading? I imagine I hear 
you say, " Yes." And I hope you obeyed. 

I read of a boy who said to his mother, " Mother, let me go to the river 
and play in the boat ? " " No, George, I had rather you would not," said 
his mother. "Accidents so often happen that I am afraid to have you go." 
" But other boys go, mother." " Yes, my son, I know it ; but other boys 
get drowned, too. If you go, Willie will want to go, too, and I shall feel 
anxious about you all the time." Now, George was the oldest son of his 
widowed mother, and it was not strange that she feared to have him exposed 
to danger. But, in spite of his mother's command, he resolved that he 
would go ; so, while his mother was busy getting tea, he stole out at the 
back door, and away he ran to the river, intending to get back before his 
mother missed him. 

Just as he arrived there, some boys were playing in the boat. He jumped 
in, too. In an instant the boat tipped over, and all were in the water where 
it was very deep. The others could swim, but George could not. Soon he 
was drowned. Ah ! how dreadful for his poor widowed mother ! But how 
still more dreadful for the poor boy ! — to be drowned in the very act of 
breaking God's commandment, which says, " Honor thy father and thy 
mother ; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee." 

Do you know, dear children, that, in the Bible, there is a curse denounced 
against those who do not honor and obey their parents? In Deut. xxvii. 
l6, we read these solemn words : " Cursed be he that setteth light by his 
father or his mother." In Proverbs xxx. 17, God speaks in this awful way: 
"The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to'obey his mother, the 
ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." 
These passages teach us that disobedient boys and girls can not prosper in 
their ways. 

(670) 




THE NEAREST WAY HOME. 
571 



FORTY-FOURTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Be content with such things as ye have : for He hath said, I will never 
leave thee, nor forsake thee. — Heb. xiii. 5. 



My future will not copy fair the past 
On any leaf but licaven's. Be fully done, 
Supernal ^Yill ! I would not fain be one 
Who, satisfying thirst and breaking fast 
Upon the fulness of the heart, at last 
Says no grace after meat. My wine has ru 
Indeed out of my cup, and there is none 
To gather up the bread of my repast 



Scattered and trampled — yet I find some good 
In earth's green herbs, and streams that bubble 

up 
Clear from the darkling ground — content until 
I sit with angels before better food. 
Dear Christ ! when thy new vintage fills my cup 
This hand shall shake no more, nor that wine 

spill. — Elizabeth B. Browning. 



Contentment is not to be caught by long and foreign chases; he is Hkeliest 
to find it who sits at home and duly contemplates those blessings which 
God has placed within his reach. — The Art of Contentment. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

SUNDAY. 

Shine. — Isa. Ix. 



1 Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the 
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the 
earth, and gross darkness the people : but the 
Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall 
be seen upon thee. 

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, 
and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 

4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see : all 
they gather themselves together, they come to 
thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy 
daughters shall be nursed at thy side. 

5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and 
thine heart shall fiar, and be enlarged ; because 
the abundance of the sea shall be converted 
unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come 
unto thee. 

6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, 
the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah ; all they 
from Slieba shall come : they shall bring gold 
and incense ; and they shall shew forth the 
praises of the Lord. 

7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered 
together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall 
minister unto thee : they shall come up with ac- 
ceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the 
house of my glory. 

8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as 
the doves to their windows ? 

9 Surely the isles shall wait for me*, and the 
ships of Tarshish first, to bring th\' sons from 



far, their silver and their gold with them, unto 
the name of the Lord thy God, and to the 
Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified 
thee. 

10 And the sons of strangers shall build up 
thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto 
thee : for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my 
favour have I had mercy on thee. 

n Therefore thy gates shall be open contin- 
ually; they shall not be shut day nor night; 
that men may bring unto thee the forces of the 
Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. 

12 For the nation and kingdom that will not 
serve thee shall perish ; yea, those nations shall 
be utterly wasted. 

13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto 
thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box 
together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary ; 
and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 

14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee 
shall come bending unto thee ; and all they that 
despised thee shall bow themselves down at the 
soles of thy feet ; and they shall call thee. The 
city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of 
Israel. 

15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and 
hated, so that no man went through thee, I will 
make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many 
generations. 

16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gen- 
tiles, and shall suck the breast of kings : and 

(573) 



574 



FORTY-FOURTH WFEK. 



thou shah know that I the Lord am thy Saviour 
and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 

17. For biass I will bring gold, and for iron I 
will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for 
stones iron : I will also make thy officers peace, 
and thine exactors righteousness. 

18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy 
land, wasting nor destruction within thy bor- 
ders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, 
and thy gates Praise. 

19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day ; 
neither for brightness shall the moon give light 



unto thee ; but the Lord shall be unto thee an 
everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 

20 Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither 
shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord 
shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of 
thy mourning shall be ended. 

21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: 
they shall inherit the land for ever, the branck 
of my planting, the work of my hands, that \ 
may be glorified. 

22 A little one shall become a thousand, and 
a small one a strong nation : I the Lord will 
hasten it in his time. 



This is evidently addressed to the Church. She is called on to arise from 
the dust, and to impart to others the rich privileges which are conferred on 
her. 

When the world shall be brought under the influence and the dominion 
of the Prince of Peace, there will be no need of closing the gates of cities, 
or of building walls around them. If the principles of the true religion 
everywhere prevailed, there would be no need of ramparts, of ships of war, 
and of fortifications ; no need of bolts and locks and iron chests to guard 
our property. 

" No lock, no bolt, no wall, no gate, no iron safe has been made in order 
to guard against a man who is the sincere friend of the Redeemer. They 
are made to guard against wicked men ; and when universal truth and 
righteousness prevail, they may be suffered to rust and rot for want of use. 
Should the principles of Christianity be everywhere diffused, the walls of 
all cities might be suffered to fall down ; their gates to stand open till they 
should decay; ships of war to lie in the dock till they should sink to the 
bottom ; forts and fleets to be dismantled ; and the whole business of making 
locks, and shackles, and of building prisons and manufacturing instruments 
of war, would come to an end." — Rev. Albert Barnes 

Closet Promise. — Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of 
mine enemies : Thou anointeth my head with oil ; my cup runneth over. — 
Psalm xxiii. 5. 

It is the Christian's privilege, to have an overflowing cup. Gospel 
measure, " pressed down, shaken together, and ninning over." Dr. Palmer 
used to say, " // is the overflow that is to convert the tuorld." 

" If that be so, what a responsibility rests upon every Christian professor. 
If the world is waiting for the fertilizing stream flowing out from our hearts, 
and we fail to respond to the demand, we are verily guilty before God, Too 
many know nothing of the overflowing life and joy and power of religion. 
' There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God ! ' Why 



575 



not get the living streams flowing through the soul? and there will flow out 
of you converting, evangelizing influences, and the unsaved will acknowl- 
edge their potency." 

MONDAY. 

The Troublesome Member. — James iii. 



1 My brethren, be not many masters, know- 
ing that we shall receive the greater condemna- 
tion. 

2 For in many things we offend all. If any 
man oftend not in word, the same is a perfect 
man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 

3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, 
that they may obey us ; and we turn about their 
whole body. 

4 Behold also the ships, which though i/ny be 
so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are 
they turned about with a very small helm, whith- 
ersoever the governor listeth. 

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, arid 
boasteth great things. Behold how great a mat- 
ter a little fire kindleih. 

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : 
so is the tongue among our members, that it de- 
fileth the whole body, and selteth on fire the 
course of nature ; and it is set on fire of hell. 

7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and 
of serpent!^, and of things in the sea, is tamed, 
and hath been tamed of mankind : 

8 But the tongue can no man tame ; it is an 
unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 

9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father ; 



and therewith curse we men, which are made 
after the similitude of God. 

10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth bles- 
sing and cursing. My brethren, these things 
ought not so to be. 

1 1 Doth a fountain send forth at the same 
place sweet water and bitter? 

12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive 
berries ? either a vine, figs ? so can no fountain 
both yield salt water and fresh. 

13 Who is a wise man and endued with 
knowledge among you ? let hirti shew out of a 
good conversation his works with meekness of 
wisdom. 

14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in 
your hearts, glory not and lie not against the 
truth. 

15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, 
but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 

16 For where envying and strife is, there is 
confusion and every evil work. 

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first 
pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be en- 
treated, full of mercy and good fruits, without 
partiality, and without hypocrisy. 

18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in 
I peace of them that make peace. 

" Give not thy tongue too great a liberty, lest it take thee prisoner. A 
word unspoken is, like the sword in the scabbard, thine ; if vented, thy 
sword is in another's hand. If thou desire to be held wise, be so wise as to 
hold thy tongue." — Quarles. 

"With meekness and wisdom" (ver. 13). It is only by having patience 
with men that you can retain any hold upon them. 

"The same measure of trouble being laid upon two men, is far lighter to 
him that bears it with patience. Of how pure wood soever an instrument is 
made, yet if it warp with the sun, or crack with the weather, we dislike it. 
Let us not lose our credit of the holiness by the least murmur of impatience." 
— Adams. 

"Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work " 
(ver, 16). " Envy is the reverse of charity ; and as that is the supreme 
source of pleasure, so this is of pain." 

Fuller's prayer against envy was beautiful : 

" Dispossess me, O Lord, of this bad spirit, and turn my envy into holy 



576 



FORTY-FOURTH WEEK. 



emulation. Let me labor to exceed those in pains, who exceed me in parts ; 
let me feed and foster, and nourish and cherish, graces in others ; honoring 
their persons, praising their gifts, and glorifying Thy name, who hath given 
such gifts to them." 

Closet Promise. — Thou understandest my thought afar off. — Psalm 

cxxxix. 2. 

Lord, our God, great, eternal, wonderful in glory, Who keepest covenant 
and promises for those that love Thee with their whole heart, Who art the 
Life of all, the Help of those that flee unto Thee, the Hope of those who 
cry unto Thee, cleanse us from our sins, secret and open ; and from ever)- 
thought displeasing to Thy goodness, — cleanse our bodies and souls, our 
hearts and consciences, that with- a pure heart, and a clear soul, with perfect 
love and calm hope, we may venture confidently and fearlessly to pray unto 
Thee. Amen. — Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil. 



TUESDAY. 

Blessings in Unexpected Places. — 2 Kings iii. 6-20. 



6 ^ And king Jehoram went out of Sani.iiia 
the same time, and numbered all Israel. 

7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the 
king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath 
rebelled against me : wilt thou go with me 
against Moab to battle ? And he said, I will 
go up : I am as thou art, my people as thy peo- 
ple, and my horses as thy horses. 

S And he said, Which way shall we go up ? 
And he answered. The way through the wilder- 
ness of Edom. 

9 So the king of Israel went, and the king 
of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they 
fetched a compass of seven days' journey : and 
there was no water for the host, and for the 
cattle that followed them. 

10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the 
Lord hath called these three kings together, 
to deliver them into the hand of Moab! 

11 But Jehoshaphat said. Is t/iere not here a 
prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of 
the Lord by him ? And one of the king of Is- 
rael's servants answered, and said, Here is 
Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water 
on the hands of Elijah. 

12 And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the 
Lord is with him. So the king of Israel and 
Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down 
to him. 

13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, 
What have I to do with thee ? get thee to the 



prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of 
thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto 
him, Nay : for the Lord hath called these three 
kings together, to deliver them into the hand of 
Moab. 

14 And Elisha said. As the I,ORD of hosts 
liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not 
that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the 
king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, 
nor see thee. 

15 But now liring me a minstrel. And it 
came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the 
hand of the Lord came upon him. 

16 And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make 
this valley full of ditches. 

17 For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see 
wind, neither shall ye see rain ; yet that valley 
shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, 
both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. 

18 And this is but a light thing in the sight 
of the Lord : he will deliver the Moabites also 
into your hand. 

19 And ye shall smite every fenced city, and 
every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, 
and stop all wells of water, and mar every good 
piece of land with stones. 

20 And it came to pass in the morning, when 
the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there 
came water by the way of Edom, and the coun- 
try was filled with water. 



The people of Israel had journeyed seven days, "and there was no water 



TUESDAY. 577 

for the host, and for the cattle that followed them." The prophet told them, 
"Make this valley full of ditches." But what is the use? There are no 
springs, no rivers, no lakes ; whence can water come ? It is not the part of 
faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came 
pouring in from some supernatural source. What a lesson for our faith ! 
Are you craving a spiritual blessing ? Open the trenches, and God will 
fill them. 

And this, too, in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected 
ways. 

" It was an old idea, as evidenced in the Book of Job, in many of the 
Psalms, and even in the time of Christ, that to be in adversity was to be 
handed over to the Evil One. It was the most common thing not to look 
for spiritual prosperity among the poor. , The blessing was on the hill-side, 
among the rich, not in the valley. The Lord Jesus Christ tore the veil from 
off all this. He passed the rich by, and made the fishermen of Galilee His 
friends. He made the ' rose to blossom in the wilderness,' and the ' thirsty 
land to yield streams of water.' There are still places in which men never 
expect to get a blessing. They go up to the house of God, just as the Jews 
went up to Jerusalem, that they may see God, forgetting that in the home, 
in the, street, in their daily life, He is beside them. They view the blessing 
as outside these things. So they often feel that they must get out of the 
valley, and on to the higher land, before they get the blessing. They re- 
member that it was the wilderness into which Christ was drawn by the Evil 
One, forgetting that it was there that the angels came and ministered unto 
Him. There should be no unexpected places of blessing to the Christian," 
— Rev. Mr. Aitken. 

Closet Promise. — I would have you without carefulness. — i Cor. 
vii. 32. 

Cast all thy care on God. See that all thy cares be such as thou canst 
cast on God, and then hold none back. Never brood over thyself; never 
stop short in thyself; but cast thy whole self, even this very care which dis- 
tresseth thee, upon God. Be not anxious about little things, if thou wouldst 
learn to trust God with thine all. Act upon faith in little things ; commit 
thy daily cares and anxieties to Him ; and He will strengthen thy faith for 
any greater trials. Rather, give thy whole self into God's hands, and so 
trust Him to take care of thee in all lesser things, as being His, for His own 
sake, whose thou art. — E. B. Pusey. 



578 



FORTY-FOURTH WEEK. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Heart a Den of Evil. — Mark vii. 1-23. 



1 Then came together unto him the Phari- 
sees, and certain of the scribes, which came 
from Jerusalem. 

2 And when they saw some of his disciples 
eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with un- 
washen hands, they found fault. 

3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except 
they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the 
tradition of the elders. 

4 And ivhen they come from the market, ex- 
cept they wash, they eat not. And many other 
things there be, which they have received to 
hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen 
vessels, and of tables. 

5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, 
Why walk not thy disciples according to the 
tradition of the elders, but eat bread with un- 
washen hands ? 

6 He answered and said unto them, Well 
hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it 
is written, This people honoureth me with their 
lips, but their heart is far from me. 

7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, 
teaching for doctrines the commandments of 
men. 

8 For laying aside the commandment of God, 
ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of 
pots and cups : and many other such like things 
ye do. 

9 And he said unto them. Full well ye reject 
the commandment of God, that ye may keep 
your own tradition. 

10 For Moses said. Honour thy father and 
thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or 
mother, let him die the death : 

1 1 But ye say. If a man shall say to his father 



or mother, // is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by 
whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me : he 
shall be free. 

12 And ye suffer him no more to do aught 
for his father or his mother ; 

13 Making the word of God of none effect 
through your tradition, which ye have deliv- 
ered : and many such like things do ye. 

14 \ And when he had called all the people 
unto him, he said unto them. Hearken unto me 
every one of you, and understand: 

15 There is nothing from without a man, 
that entering into him can defile him : but the 
things which come out of him, those are they 
that defile the man. 

16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 

17 And when he was entered into the house 
from the people, his disciples asked him con- 
cerning the parable. 

18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so with- 
out understanding also ? Do ye not perceive, 
that whatsoever thing from without entereth 
into the man, it cannot defile him'; 

19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but 
into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, 
purging all meats ? 

20 And he said, that which Cometh out of the 
man, that defileth the man. 

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, 
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, 
murders, 

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, 
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, 
foolishness : 

23 All these evil things come from within, 
and defile the man. 



" The Saviour does not stop to prove that these things come out of the 
heart. He asserts it, and asserts it because it is self-evident. When you 
see a thing coming forth, you are clear it was there first. Last summer I 
noticed hornets continually flying from a number of decayed logs in my 
garden. I saw them constantly flying in and out, and I did not think my- 
self at all unreasonable in concluding that there was a hornets' nest there. 
And so, if we see the hornets of sin flying out of a man, we suppose at 
once there is sin within him." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" Since man was thrust out of Paradise a tree of death, a root of bitter- 
ness, has grown in every soul, bearing all manner of cursed fruits; and 
every leaf, every bud, tends to destroy life and ruin man. Its grapes are 
gall, its clusters are bitter, its wine is the poison of asps." — R. B. Nichol. 



WEDNESDAY. 



579 



We need to be cleansed within with a spirit of fire and a spirit of burn- 
ing. " God sees hearts as we see faces." 

" Before men we stand as opaque bee-hives. They can see the thoughts 
go in and out of us, but what work they do inside of a man they cannot tell. 
Before God we are as glass bee-hives, and all that our thoughts are doing 
within us He perfectly sees and understands." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — Ye are the temple of the living God. — 2 Cor. vi. 16. 



Fling wide the portals of your heart, 
Make it a temple set apart 
From earthly use for Heaven's employ, 
Adorned with prayer, and love, and joy. 



So shall your Sovereign enter in 
And new and nobler life begin. 



THURSDAY. 

Thanksgiving for Deliverance. — Psalm xxx. 



1 I will extol thee, O Lord ; for thou hast 
lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to 
rejoice over me. 

2 O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and 
thou hast healed me. 

3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul 
from the grave : thou hast kept me alive, that I 
should not go down to the pit. 

4 Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and 
give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 

5 For his anger endureth but a moment ; in 
his favour is life : weeping may endure for a 
night, but joy cometh in the morning. 

6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never 
be moved. 

7 Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my 



mountain to stand strong : thou didst hide thy 
face, and I was troubled. 

8 I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the 
Lord I made supplication. 

9 What profit is there in my blood, when I 
go down to the pit ? Shall the dust praise thee ? 
shall it declare thy truth ? 

10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me : 
Lord, be thou my helper. 

1 1 Thou hast turned for me my mourning 
into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, 
and girded me with gladness; 

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise 
to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I 
will give thanks unto thee for ever. 



According to the superscription, the occasion of this Psalm was " the 
dedication of the house." 

" We know from Deut. xx. 5 that it was customary to dedicate a house 
that was newly built. The private abode of a pious family is holy. But 
this Psalm is ' the song of the dedication of the house,' appointed for use in 
the public service." — J. G. Murphy. 

" Throughout this Psalm there are indications that David had been greatly 
afflicted, both personally and relatively, after having, in his presumption, 
fancied himself secure. When God's children prosper one way, they are 
generally tried another, for kw of us can bear unmingled prosperity. Even 
the joys of hope need to be mixed with the pains of experience, and the 
more surely so when comfort breeds carnal security and self-confidence. 
Nevertheless, pardon soon followed repentance, and God's mercy was glori- 
fied. The Psalm is a song, and not a complaint. Let it be read in the light 
of the last days of David, when he had numbered the people, and God had 



580 



FORTY-FOirRTH WEKK. 



chastened him, and then in mercy had bidden the angel sheathe his sword." 
— C. H. Spurge on. 

Closet Promise. — Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in 
the morning. — Psalm xxx. 5. 



Man's life is but a working-day, 
Whose tasks are set aright ; 

A time to work, a time to play. 
And then a quiet night. 



And then, please God, a quiet night 
Where palms are green and robes are white, 
A long-drawn breath, a balm for sorrow. 
And all things lovely on the morrow. 

— Christina Rossetti. 



FRIDAY. 

Future Recognition. — 2 Sam. xii. 15-23. 



15 ^ And Nathan departed unto his house. 
And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife 
bare unto David, and it was very sick. 

16 David therefore besought God for the 
child : and David fasted, and went in, and lay 
all night upon the earth. 

17 And the elders of his house arose, and 
•we7it to him, to raise him up from the eartl>: but 
he would not, neither did he eat bread with 
them. 

18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, 
that the child died. And the servants of David 
feared to tell him that the child was dead : for 
they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, 
we spake unto him, and he would not hearken 
unto our voice : how will he then vex himself, 
if we tell him that the child is dead ? 

19 But when David saw that his servants 
whispered, David perceived that the child was 



dead : therefore David said unto his servants. 
Is the child dead ? And they said. He is dead. 

20 Then David arose from the earth, and 
washed, and anointed himself, and changed his 
apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, 
and worshipped: then -he came to his own 
house; and when he required, they set bread 
before him, and he did eat. 

21 Then said his servants unto him, Whr.t 
thing is this that thou hast done ? thou didst fast 
and weep for the child, while it was alive ; but 
when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat 
bread. 

22 And he said. While the child was yet 
alive, I fasted and wept : for I said, Who can 

j tell whether GoD will be gracious to me, that 
the child may live? 

23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I 
fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to 
him, but he shall not return to me. 



The doctrine of our future meeting and recognition is intimated in the 
earher records of Scripture. We are told of Abraham, Jacob, Aaron and 
Moses that each was gathered to his people. In some instances it is 
expressly said they died, and then it is added, " were gathered to their 
fathers." There would seem to be in the very heart of the expression a 
recognition that their fathers were still in existence in some state or other. 
As we advance to the New Testament we find that the twilight is broadening 
into the perfect day. This doctrine forms much of the very warp of the 
teaching of our Saviour and His apostles. 

" I. It is taught, for example, that in eternity and in heaven we shall 
retain our personal identity. What life has not been able to do in the way 
of destroying our identity, death will not do. The sense of /, me, myself, 
will be with us as before. 

" 2. We must also remember that the departed just are not diffused 




THE CRUCIFIXION. 

He said, It is finished : and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. 
— John xix. 30. 



FRIDAY. 583 

through the universe, but are gathered into one place. They are with the 
Lord, and they are there in a family relation. It is only needful to appre- 
ciate fully this fact in order to see that mutual recognition is indispensable 
and inevitable. 

" 3. We do not dream that the ' spirits of the just made perfect,' dwelling 
in our Father's house, will sit in silent reserve side by side, and as little do 
we dream that their speech will never be concerned with the way by which 
the Lord has led them. Unless the whole family in heaven is to be marked 
by features the very opposite of every earthly family, unless it is to be dis- 
tinguished by isolation, reserve and coldness, mutual recognition must be 
not only a possible thing, but an inevitable one, and we shall know as we 
are known." — E. Mellor. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; 
blessed be the name of the Lord. — Job. i. 21. 



What Thou hast given. Thou canst take, 
And when Thou wilt new gifts can make. 

All flo^s from Thee alone ; 
When Thou didst give it, it was Thine ; 



When Thou retook'st it, 'twas not mine. 
Thy will in all be done. 

—John Austm. 



We are ready to praise when all shines fair ; but when life is oVercast, 
when all things seem to be against us, when we are in fear for some cher- 
ished happiness, or in the depths of sorrow, or in the solitude of a life which 
has no visible support, or in a season of sickness, and with the shadow of 
death approaching — then to praise God ; then to say. This fear, loneliness, 
affliction, pain and trembling awe are as sure tokens of love, as life, health, 
joy and the gifts of home : " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
away ; " on either side it is He, and all is love alike ; " blessed be the name 
of the Lord " — this is the true sacrifice of praise. What can come amiss to 
a soul which is so in accord with God ? What can make so much as one 
jarring tone in all its harmony ? In all the changes of this fitful life, it ever 
dwells in praise. — H. E. Manning. 



SATURDAY. 

Fear Not." — Luke xii. i- 



1 In the mean time, when there were gath- 
ered together an innumerable multitude of 
people, insomuch that they trode one upon an- 
other, he began to say unto his disciples first of 
all, Beware ye of ihe leaven of the Pharisees, 
which is hypocrisy. 

2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not 
be revealed ; neither hid, that shall not be 
known. 



3 Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in 
darkness shall be heard in the light ; and that 
which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall 
be proclaimed upon the housetops. 

4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not 
afraid of them tluit kill the body, and after that 
have no more th.^t they can do. 

5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall 
fear : Fear him, which after he hath killed 



584 FORTY-FOURTH WEEK. 

hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto 9 But he that denieth me before men shall 

you, Fear him. ! be denied before the angels of God. 

6 Are not five sparrows sold for two far- 1 10 And whosoever shall speak a word against 
things, and not one of them is forgotten before : the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but 
God ? I unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy 

7 But even the very hairs of your head are j Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 

all numbered. Fear not therefore : ye are of 1 11 And when they bring you unto the syna- 

more value than many sparrows. 1 gogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take 

8 Also I say unto you. Whosoever shall con- ' ye no thought how or what thing ye shall an- 
fess me before men, him shall the Son of man ■ sw^r, or what ye shall say : 

also confess before the angels of God: \ 12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in 

I the same hour what ye ought to say. 

This is the key-note of this long chapter — " Fear not!' 

" There need be no difficulty in distinguishing between the holy and 
blessed ' fear of the Lord,' which is our ' treasure,' and which is only as the 
sacred shadow cast by the brightest light of love and joy, and the fear which 
' hath torment,' and is cast out by perfect love and simple trust. . . . There 
is a ' Fear not ' for every possible case and kind of fear ; so that we have 
never any answer to give when He asks, ' Wliy are ye fearful?' but we are 
' without excuse.' It is part of His ' holy covenant ' that we should ' serve 
Him without fear.' It is one of His ' precious promises ' that ' fhou shalt 
be steadfast, and shalt not fear.' It is one of the blessed results of His 
reign that His fllock 'shall fear no more.' It is no impossible thing, but the 
simple and natural consequence of really seeking and really trusting the 
Lord, that He will deliver us not from some, but from ' all ' our fears. He did 
this for David ; will He be less kind to you and me ? " — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — Fear not, little flock ; for it is your Father's good 
pleasure to give you, the kingdom. — Luke xii. 32. 



I bide my time. Whatever woes assail me, 
I know the strife is only for a day ; 
A friend waits for me on the way, 

A friend too faithful and too true to fail me. 



Who will bid all life's jarring turmoil cease, 
And lead me on to realms of perfect peace. 
I bide — I bide my time. 

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto, — Ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied. — Joel ii. 26. 
Weekly Proverb. — A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. — 
English. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— HEAVEN. 

Snnday. — The Promise of Heaven. — John xiv. 1-14. 
Monday. — The Heavenly Body. — i Cor. xv. 35-58- 
Tuesday. — The Hope of Heaven. — 2 Cor. v. 1-9. 
Wednesday. — The Throne of God in Heaven. — Rev. iv. i-ii. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



585 



Thursday.— Th.& White-Robed Multitude.— Rev. vii. 9-17. 
Friday. — The Heavenly Jerusalem. — Rev. xxi. 1-27. 
Saturday. — The River and Tree of Life. — Rev. xxii. 1-2 1. 



HER NAME. 



" I'm losted ! Could you find me, please ? " 

Poor little frightened baby ! 
The wind had tossed her golden fleece, 
The stones had scratched her dimpled knees, 
I stooped and lifted her with ease. 

And softly whispered, " May be," 

" Tell me your name, my little maid ; 

I can't find you without it." 
" My name is ' Shiney-eyes,' " she said, 
" Yes, but your last name ? " She shook her 

head ; 
" Up to my house 'ey never said 

A single word about it." 



" But, dear," I said, " what is your name ? " 
" Why, didn't you hear me told you? 

"Dust Shiney-eyes." A bright thought came : 

" Yes, when you're good, but when they blame 

You, little one ; is it just the same 
When mamma has to scold you ? " 

" My mamma never scolds," she moans, 

A little blush ensuing, 
" 'Cept when I've been a-frowing stones. 
And then she says (the culprit owns), 
' Mehitabel Sapphira Jones, 

What has you been a-doing ? ' " 

— Anna F. Biirnhain. 



Redeeming the time. — Eph. v. 16. 

I expect your fathers and mothers have often told you " not to put off 
till to-morrow what can be done to-day." That is what our little verse 
means. Mamma says, "^o this, Annie." Then Annie says, " Bye-and- 
bye." Now there is an old Spanish proverb which ;says, " The road of Bye- 
and-bye leads to the town of Never." Don't you see^ if you keep putting 
of till to-morrow, you will never do it, for to-morrow never comes. When 
Papa or Mamma asks you to. do anything, drop everything else, and go do it 
at once. And so, dear children, don't put off giving your hearts to Jesus. 
Emma was a sweet little girl six year old. One day she said to her mother, 
" Mamma, I mean to begin at the new year to love Jesus." " But," said her 
mother, " how do you know you will live till the new year?" Einma sat 
some moments without speaking. At length she looked up, with tears in 
her eyes, and said, " Perhaps I shall not. I will begin now ; and then, 
mamma, if God lets me live, I shall be a Christian when the new year 
begins." Ah ! that was a wise decision. Jesus says : " Come to me now, 
dear child." Don't say, " Bye-and-bye," any more ; but come at once. 



FORTY-FIFTH W^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — The just man walketh in his integrity : his children are blessed after hira. 
-Prov. XX. 7. 



Blessed the natures shoved on every side 
With landmarks of hereditary thought ! 
Thrice happy they that wander not life-long 
Beyond near succor of the household faith, 



The guarded fold that shelters, not confines ! 
Their steps find patience in familiar paths, 
Printed with hope by loved feet gone before 
Of parent, child, or lover. 

—Selected. 



Parents cannot do God's work, and God will not do theirs; but if they 
use the means, He will never withhold His blessing. — A. Clarke. 



Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest ; 

Home-keeping hearts are happiest. 

For those that wander they know not where. 



Are full of trduble and full of care ; 
To stay at home is best. 

—Selected. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Empty Sepulchre. — John xx. 



1 The first day of the week cometh Mary 
Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto 
the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away 
from the sepulchre. 

2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon 
Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus 
loved, and saith unto them. They have taken 
away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we 
know not where they have laid him, 

3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other 
disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 

4 So they ran both together : and the other 
disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the 
sepulchre. 

5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw 
the linen clothes lying: yet went he not in. 

6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, 
and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen 
clothes lie, 

7 And the napkin that was about his head, 
not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped 
together in a place by itself. 

8 Then went in also that other disciple, which 
came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and be- 
lieved. 

9 For as yet they knew not the Scripture, 
that he must rise again from the dead. 

10 Then the disciples went away again unto 
their own home. 

1 1 T[ But Mary stood without at the sepulchre 

(586) 



weeping ; and as she wept, she stooped down, 
and looked into the sepulchre, 

12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the 
one at the head, and the other at the feet, where 
the body of Jesus had lain. 

13 And they say unto her. Woman, why 
weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because 
they have taken away my Lord, and I know not 
where they have laid him. 

14 And when she had thus said, she turned 
herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and Jcnew 
not that it was Jesus. 

15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest 
thou ? wliom seekest thou ? She, supposing 
him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if 
thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou 
hast laid him, and I will take him away. 

16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned 
herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni ; which is 
to say. Master. 

17 Jesus saith unto her. Touch me not; for 
I am not yet ascended to my Father : but go to 
my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto 
my Father, and your Father, and to my God, 
and your God. 

18 Mary Magdalene came and told the dis- 
ciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he 
had spoken these things unto her. 

19 \ Then the same day at evening, being 
the first day of the week, when the doors were 



587 



shut where the disciples were assembled for fear 
of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, 
and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 

20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto 
them his hands and his side. Then were the 
disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 

21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be 
unto you : as my Father hath sent me, even so 
send I you. 

22 And when he had said this, he breathed 
on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the 
Holy Gho^t ; 

23 Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are re- 
mitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye re- 
tain, they are retained. 

24 \ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called 
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 

25 The other disciples therefore said unto 



him. We have seen the Lord. But he said unto 
them. Except I shall see in his hands the print 
of the nails, and put my finger into the print 
of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I 
will not believe. 

26 \ And after eight days again his disciples 
were within, and Thomas with them ; then came 
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the 
midst, and said. Peace be unto you. 

27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither 
thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach 
hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side ; and 
be not faithless, but believing. 

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, 
My Lord and my God. 

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because 
thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are 
they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 



"Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto him, 
Rabboni ; which is to say, Master " (verse 16). 

"I think this is the very epitome of love. Love understands love; it 
needs no talk. Sunlight needs no paraphernalia of pipes, and wicks, and 
burners ; it just shines out, direct and immediate. And the dewdrop flashes 
it back in the same way. The sparkle may be tiny, but it is true and im- 
mediate ; it needs no vehicle. ' I have called thee by thy name.' That wa.s 
quite enough. The powerful sunshine of His love was focussed into that 
white beam of sevenfold light, and the whole soul was concentrated into the 
responsive love-flash, ' Master ! ' " — F. R. Havergal. 

Thomas was not present in that first prayer-meeting when Jesus appeared 
to His disciples. He was a great loser thereby. The other disciples told 
him, " We have seen the Lord." It is a good hint to us to testify, to tell 
others when we have had blessed views while waiting upon the Lord. 
When in the Western country a man thinks he has discovered an oil well 
or a gold mine he keeps silent. But in this case there is no necessity to 
hold one's peace. The Lord vouchsafes His divine presence to all who will 
receive Him. 

The doubt of Thomas (verses 25-28). " Christ never failed to distinguish 
between doubt and unbelief Doubt is carCt believe ; unbelief is won't be- 
lieve. Doubt is honesty ; unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; 
unbelief is content with darkness. Loving darkness rather than light, that 
is what Christ attacked." 

Closet Promise. — Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and 
He will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited for Him, we will be glad 
and rejoice in His salvation. — Isa. xxv. 9. 

"O, when the matchless glory broke around the unoccupied tomb, and the 



588 



FORTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



Master presented the risen One to the weeping sisters, how their former 
hope blossomed into glad realization ! So it may be with us. Wait 
obediently upon Him. Take away every stone that may be the occasion of 
weak faith. Look up steadfastly. That cloud, behind which God s glory 
has accumulated for our benefit, will soon be broken. When that fulness 
bursts upon us — the fulness of love — we will indeed be constrained to say, 
' Master, it is good for us to be here.' " 

MONDAY. 

The Song of Moses.— Ex. xv. 1-21. 



1 Then sang Moses and the children of Is- 
rael this song unto the Lord, and spake, say- 
ing, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath 
triumphed gloriously : the horse and his rider 
hath he thrown into the sea. 

2 The Lord is my strength and song, and he 
is become my salvation : he is my God, and I 
will prepare him a habitation ; my father's God, 
and I will exalt him. 

3 The Lord is a man of war : the Lord is 
his name. 

4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he 
cast into the sea : his chosen captains also are 
drowned in the Red sea. 

5 The depths have covered them : they sank 
into the bottom as a stone. 

6 Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glori- 
ous in power : thy right hand, O Lord, hath 
dashed in pieces the enemy. 

7 And in the greatness of thine excellency 
thou hast overthrown them that rose up against 
thee : thou sentest forth thy wrath, which con- 
sumed them as stubble. 

8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters 
were gathered together, the floods stood upright 
as a heap, atid the depths were congealed in the 
heart of the sea. 

9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will over- 
take, I will divide the spoil ; my lust shall be 
satisfied upon them: I will draw my sword, my 
hand shall destroy them. 

10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea 
covered them : they sank as lead in the mighty 
waters. 

1 1 Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the 
gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, 
fearful in praises, doing wonders ? 



12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the 
earth swallowed them. 

13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the peo- 
ple which thou hast redeemed : thou hast guided 
Ihem in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. 

14 The people shall hear, aini be afraid : sor- 
row shall take hold on the inhabitants of Pal- 
estina. 

15 Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed : 
the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take 
hold upon them ; all the inhabitants of Canaan 
shall melt away. 

16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by 
the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still 
as a stone ; till thy people pass over, O Lord, 
till the people pass over, which thou hast pur- 
chased. 

17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them 
in the ^mountain of thine inheritance, in the 
place, O Lord, which tliou hast made for thee 
to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Lord, which 
thy hands have established. 

18 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. 

19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with 
his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, 
and the Lord brought again the waters of the . 
sea upon them ; but the children of Israel went 
on dry land in the midst of the sea. 

20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of 
Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand ; and all the 
women went out after her with timbrels and 
with dances. 

21 And Miriam answered them. Sing ye to 
the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously : 
the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the 



This matchless hymn of praise is presumably the oldest poem in the 
world. In sublimity of conception and grandeur of expression it is unsur- 
passed by anything that has been written since. 

" Here the strain of all these allusions to the great deliverance is that 
' not unto uSj not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy 



MONDAY. 



589 



mercy and for Thy truth's sake.' Nor did its echoes die away with the 
Jewish dispensation. As a triumphant celebration of God's victory over 
His enemies, it is even transferred in the Apocalypse to those who stand on 
the sea of glass mingled with fire, having the harps of God, and singing 'the 
song of Moses the servant of God, and of the Lamb.'" — Cunningham 
Geikie, D. D. 

But Moses and the people had not all the music to themselves, for his 
sister Miriam, catching something of the fervor of her brother's soul, led 
the women even as Moses led the men, and at every pause in the psalm 
they came in with the chorus, to the accompaniment of the timbrel and the 
dance, " Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously ; the horse 
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." It was a gladsome time. After 
deliverance there should come a song. Gratitude is an imperative duty, 
and if we cannot sing with our lips we can do better still than that, " for 
we can set our daily deeds to the music of a grateful heart, and seek to 
round our lives into a hymn — the melody of which will be recognized by all 
who come into contact with us, and the power of which shall not be evan- 
escent, like the voice of the singer, but perennial, like the music of the 
spheres." 

Closet Promise. — The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to ever- 
lasting upon them that fear Him. — Psalm ciii. 17. 



Lord, many times I am aweary quite 
Of mine own self, my sin, my vanity, 

Yet be not Thou, or I am lost outright. 
Weary of me. 

And hate against myself I often bear, 
And enter with myself in fierce debate ; 



Take Thou my part against myself, nor share 
In that just hate ! 

Best friends might loathe us, if what things per- 
verse 
We know of our own selves, they also knew; 
Lord, Holy One ! if Thou who knowest worse 
Shouldst loathe us too ! 

— Richard Chevenix Trench. 



TUESDAY. 

Wells Without Water." — 2 Pet. ii. 



1 But there were false prophets also among 
the people, even as there shall be false teachers 
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable 
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought 
them, and bring upon themselves swift destruc- 
tion. 

2 And many shall follow their pernicious 
ways ; by reason of whom the way of truth 
shall be evil spoken of. 

3 And through covetousness shall they with 
feigned words make merchandise of you : whose 
judgment now of a long time lingereth not, 
and their damnation slumbereth not. 



[ 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, 
but cast them down to hell, and delivered tkein 
\ into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto 
! judgment ; 

5 And spared not the old world, but saved 
I Noah the eighth person, a preacher of right- 
1 eousness, bringing in the flood upon the world 

of the ungodly ; 

6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Go- 
morrah into ashes condemned Ihein with an 
overthrow, making ihe?n an ensample unto 
those that after should live ungodly ; 



590 



FORTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with tlie 
filthy conversation of the wicked : 

8 (For that righteous man dwelling among 
them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his right- 
eous soul from day to day with their unlawful 
deeds :) 

9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly 
out of templation, and to reserve the unjust 
unto the day of judgment to be punished : 

10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh 
in the lust of uncleanness, and despise govern- 
ment. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they 
are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 

1 1 Whereas, angels, which are greater in 
power and might, bring not railing accusation 
against them before the Lord. 

12 But these, as natural brute beasts made 
to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the 
things that they understand not ; and shall 
utterly perish in their own corruption ; 

13 And shall receive the reward of unright- 
eousness, i7s they that count it pleasure to riot 
in the daytime. Spots /hey are and blemishes, 
sporting themselves with their own deceivings 
while they feast with you ; 

14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that can- 
not cease from sin ; beguiling unstable souls ; a 
heart they have exercised with covetous prac- 
tices ; cursed children : 

15 Which have forsaken the right way, and 



are gone astray, following the way of Balaam 
the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of un- 
righteousness ; 

16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the 
dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbade 
the madness of the prophet. 

17 These are wells without water, clouds 
that are carried with a tempest; to whom the 
mi^t of darkness is reserved for ever. 

18 For when they speak great swelling words 
of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the 
flesh, through much wantonness, those that were 
clean escaped from them who live in error. 

19 While they promise them liberty, they 
themselves are the servants of corruption : for 
of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he 
1)1 ought in bondage. 

20 For if after they have escaped the pollu- 
tions of the world through the knowledge of 
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are 
again entangled therein, and overcome, the 
latter end is wor.se with them than the beginning. 

21 For it had been better for them not to 
have known the way of righteousness, than, 
after they have known it, to turn from the 
holy commandment delivered unto them. 

22 But it is happened unto them according 
to the true proverb. The dog is turned to his " 
own vomit again ; and. The sow that was 
washed to her wallowing in the mire. 



In this chapter we have two figures introduced to describe the influence 
of false teachers upon others : 

1. ''These are zvells without ivater." " He called them wells, because they 
had received the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ ; without water, be- 
cause they do not live agreeably to their knowledge." — Atigustine. 

Umbreit suggests the well-known mirage. The thirsty traveller in the 
desert perceives a moving sheen which he takes for a stream or a lake, 
hastens to it, but, reaching it, is bitterly disappointed, for it all dissolves 
into empty vapor. 

" Where you find a well without water, you find dirt and mire. So these 
contain no water of inflowing grace, but the mire of wickedness. No 
wonder, seeing that they have forsaken the fountain of living water." — 
Hubs. 

2. " Clouds that are carried ivith a tempest." Clouds which promise rain, 
but give none because they are chased away by the wind. 

" Clouds driven along by the wind produce a tempest and obscure the 
splendor of the sun ; so in like manner those false teachers disturb the peace 
of souls and obscure the Sun of Righteousness by the darkness of error." — 
Huss. 




CARRYING TO THE TOMB. 

Now in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden ; and in 

the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 

There laid they Jesus.— yb//« xix. 41, 42. 

592 



TUESDAY. 



593 



Closet Promise. — The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by 
Him ; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long. — Deut. xxxiii. 12. 



Though to-day may not fulfil 
All thy hopes, have patience still ; 
For perchance to-morrow's sun 
Sees thy happier days begun. 
As God willeth march the hours, 
Bringing joy at last in showers, 
And whate'er we asked is ours. 



I will meet distress and pain ; 

I will greet e'en death's dark reign ; 

I will lay me in the grave 

With a heart still glad and brave. 
Whom the Strongest doth defend, 
Whom the Highest counts His friend, 
Cannot perish in the end. 

— Paul Gerhardt. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Unseen Army. — 2 Kings vi. 8-18. 



8 \ Then the king of Syria warred against 
Israel, and took counsel with his servants, 
saying, In such and such a place shall be my 
camp. 

9 And the man of God sent unto the king 
of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not 
such a place ; for thither the Syrians are come 
down. 

10 And the king of Israel sent to the place 
which the man of God told him and warned 
him of, and saved himself there, not once nor 
twice. 

11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria 
was sore troubled for this thing ; and he called 
his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not 
shew me which of us is for the king of Israel ? 

I2_ And one of his servants said, None, my 
lord, O king : but Elisha, the prophet that 
is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words 
that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber. 

13 ^ And he said, Go and spy where he is 
that I may send and fetch him. And it was 
told him, saying. Behold he is in Dothan. 



14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and 
chariots, and a great host; and they came by 
night, and compassed the city about. 

15 And when the servant of the man of 
God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, 
a host compassed the city both with horses and 
chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, 
my master ! how shall we do ? 

16 And he answered, Fear not : for they 
that be with us are more than they that be with 
them. 

17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I 
pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. 
And the LoKD opened the eyes of the young 
man ; and he saw : and behold, the mountain 
was full of horses and chariots of fire round 
about Elisha. 

18 And when they came down to him, 
Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said. Smite 
this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And 
he smote them with blindness according to the 
word of Elisha. 



The history before us is designed to show how very near all the while 
lies another world and another life, altogether of spirit, and heaven, and God. 
It needed just the opening of the eyes, and nothing more, to show this 
young man an whole concourse of existences and agencies unseen and 
unsuspected till that moment. According to the word of God, we are 
inmates of two worlds : a world seen and a world unseen ; a world of time 
and a world of eternity. We may be walking blind-fold in the midst of 
truths and realities. 

" The young man looking abroad and seeing nothing but the hills, and 
the fields, and the Syrian army, is a picture of a man without faith. But the 
young man looking abroad and seeing not only the hills, and fields, and 
enemies which everybody saw, but also the flaming host — the symbol 



594 



FORTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



of God's presence, love, and power — is a picture of a man with faith." — y. 
Stalker. 

If we could see the spiritual world as we see the natural, we should find 
that every life is held in God's hand, every faculty kept for us by God's keep- 
ing, every step taken, every word spoken, and every work done in virtue of 
a power not our own. 

Closet Promise. — Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to 
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? — Heb. i. 14. 

In old days there were angels who came and took men by the hand and 
led them away from the city of destruction. We see no white-winged 
angels now. But yet men are led away from threatening destruction ; a 
hand is put into theirs which leads them forth gently toward a calm and 
bright land, so that they look no more backward ; and the hand may be a 
little child's. 

THURSDAY. 



The Church. — Psalm cxxii. 



1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us 
go into the house of the Lord. 

2 Our feet shall stand wilhin thy gates, O Je- 
rusalem. 

3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is com- 
pact together : 

4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the 
Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give 
thanks unto the name of the Lord. 



5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the 
thrones of the house of David. 

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall 
prosper that love thee. 

7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity 
within thy palaces. 

8 For my brethren and companions' sakes, I 
will now say. Peace be within thee. 

9 Because of the house of the Lord our 
God I will seek thy good. 



This Psalm seems to have been written for the use of the Israelites, when 
they went up to Jerusalem, after the ark was removed thither, to celebrate 
their sacred feasts, and to have communion with God and with their breth- 
ren. Their journey would often be inconvenient, wearisome, and expensive : 
but the holy joy and benefit, which thence accrued, would amply repay 
them. 

It has been a favorite song in all ages of the Church. Jerusalem was 
typical both of the church of true believers, and of the heavenly state. 

"What that church was, the Christian church militant upon earth now is, 
and deniandeth in like manner the prayers of all Christian people, for its 
peace and welfare in a troublesome and contentious world. Its increase 
here below is, in reality, the increase of Jeru.salem above, of which it is a 
part, and ought to be a resemblance." — Bp. Home. 

" The servants of God should exhort others, and be grlad to be exhorted 



THURSDAY. 



595 



themselves, to attend on His ordinances. Indeed those who love His name 
and seek His salvation, will 'rejoice when it is said unto them, Let us go 
into the house of the Lord ; ' and the pleasure and profit, which they de- 
rive from ' the means of grace,' will make the zealous believer disregard in- 
convenience and fatigue in resorting thither." — Thomas Scott. 

Closet Promise. — Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the 
temple of my God. — Rev. iii. 12. 



None the place ordained refuseth, 
They are one, and they are all. 



Living stones the Builder chooseth 
For the courses of His wall. 

— Jean Ingelow. 



Slowly, through all the universe, that temple of God is being built. 
Wherever, in any world, a soul, by free-willed obedience, catches the fire 
of God's likeness, it is set into the growing walls, a living stone. When, 
in your hard fight, in your tiresome drudgery, or in your terrible temptation, 
you catch the purpose of your being, and give yourself to God, and so give 
Him the chance to give Himself to you, your life, a living stone, is taken 
up and set into that growing wall. . . . Wherever souls are being tried 
and ripened, in whatever commonplace and homelj^ ways ; — there God 
is hewing out the pillars for His temple. Oh, if the stone can only 
have some vision of the temple of which it is to lie a part forever, what 
patience must fill it as it feels the blows of the hammer, and knows that 
success for it is simply to let itself be wrought into what shape the Master 
wills. — Phillips Brooks. 

FRIDAY. 

ZiON Comforted. — Isa. xlix. 13-26. 



13 ^ Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O 
earth ; and break forth into singing, O moun- 
tains ; for the Lord hath comforted his people, 
and will have mercy upon his afflicted. 

14 But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken 
me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. 

15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, 
that she should not have compassion on the son 
of her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will I 
not forget thee. 

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms , 
of my hands ; thy walls are continually before I 
me. 

17 Thy children shall make haste; thy de- 
stroyers and they that made thee waste shall go 
forth of thee. 

18 \ Lift up thine eyes round about, and be- 
hold : all these gather themselves together, and 
come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou 
shall surely clothe thee with them all, as with 



an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride 
doeth. 

19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and 
the land of thy destruction, shall even now be 
too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and 
they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 

20 The children which thou shalt have, after 
thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine 
ears. The place is too straight for me : give 
place to me that I may dwell. 

21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who 
hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my 
children, and am desolate, a captive and remov- 
ing to and fro ? and who hath brought up these ? 
Behold, I was left alone ; these, where had they 
been ? 

22 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will 
lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up 
my standard to the people : and they shall bring 



596 



FORTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall 
he carried upon their shoulders. 

23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and 
their queens thy nursing mothers : they shall bow 
down to thee with their face toward the earth, 
and lick up the dust of thy feet ; and thou shalt 
know that I ani the Lord : for they shall not 
be ashamed that wait for me. 

24 \ Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, 
or the lawful captive delivered ? 

25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the cap- 



tives of the mighty shall he taken away, and the 
prey of the terrible shall be delivered : for I 
will contend with him that contendeth with 
thee, and I will save thy children. 

26 And I will feed them that oppress thee 
with their own flesh ; and they shall be drunken 
with their own blood, as with sweet wine : and 
all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy 
Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of 
Jacob. 



The language of verse 14 is that of complaint, and expresses the deep 
feeling of the people of God amidst many calamities, afflictions, and trials. 

Inverse 15 is God's answer. "Look at that woman with her smiling 
babe at her breast ; see how fond she is of it, how delighted with it ; it is 
part of herself; its innocent look and helpless cry call forth her tenderest 
affection and regard. Can she forget it ? Can she refuse to show compas- 
sion to it ? Will she neglect to administer to its wants, and to preserve from 
danger the dear and tender son of her womb ? Is it possible ? " Here is 
an linage in nature which strikes one with the most tender affection, to set 
forth the love and care of the Lord to His people. 

But strong and striking as it is, it fails. There have been those who have 
not had compassion upon their offspring. Therefore, knowing the fears 
and surmises of our nature, the Father of love and the Friend of sinners, as 
it were, corrects Himself, " Yea, they may forget" — the comparison fails. 
Yet, ivill I not forget thee. Oh, may faith fasten and live upon this precious 
word. May love be excited and joy increased by it. " Behold, I have 
graven thee upon the palms of My hands." 

Closet Promise. — He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by 
the springs of water shall He guide them. — Isa. xlix. 10. 



' Just as God leads I am content; 

I rest me calmly in His hands; 
That which He has decreed and sent. 
That which His will for me commands, 
I would that He should all fulfill, 
That I should do His gracious will 
In living or in dying. 

' Just as God leads I will resign ; 

I trust me to my Father's will ; 

When reason's rays deceptive shine. 

His counsel would I yet fulfill — 



That which His love ordained as right. 
Before He brought me to the light — 
My all to Him resigning. 

' Just as God leads me I abide ; 

In faith, in hope, in suffering true, 
His strength is ever by my side : 
Can aught my hold on Him undo? 
I hold me firm in patience, knowing 
That God my life is still bestowing, 
The best in kindness sending." 



FORTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



597 



SATURDAY. 

Love. — i John iv. 7-21. 



7 Beloved, let us love one another : for love 
is of God ; and every one that loveth is born of 
God, and knoweth God. 

8 He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for 
God is love. 

9 In this vi^as manifested the love of God to- 
ward us, because that God sent his only begot- 
ten Son into the world, that we might live 
through him. 

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, 
but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the 
propitiation for our sins. 

1 1 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also 
to love one another. 

12 No man hath seen God at any lime. If 
we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and 
his love is perfected in us. 

13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, 
and he in us, because he hath given us of his 
Spirit. 

14 And we have seen and do testify that the 
Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the 
world. 



15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the 
Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in 
God. 

16 And we have known and believed the 
love that God hath to us. God is love ; and he 
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God 
in him. 

17 Herein is .our love made perfect, that we 
may have boldness in the day of judgment ; 
because as he is, so are we in this world. 

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love 
casteth out fear : because fear hath torment. 
He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 

19 We love him, because he first loved us. 

20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his 
brother, he is a liar : for he that loveth not his 
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love 
God whom he hath not seen ? 

21 And this commandment have we from 
him. That he who loveth God love his brother 
also. 



" God is Love : what then is more precious than love ? And he that 
abides in love, abides in God ; what then is more sure than love ? " — 
Bernard. 

" Thou beholdest the Trinity when thou beholdest Love, for there are 
three — he that loveth, he that is loved, and reciprocal love." — Augustine. 

" Love is the fundamental law of the world : i. As written in heaven : for 
God is Love. 2. As written on the cross : for Christ is Love. 3. As writ- 
ten in our hearts : for Christianity is Love." — Gerok. 

" Man is not lost as long as he believes in love ; but he is lost when he 
loses that belief Chrysostom says that the devil would be saved if he could 
believe in the love of God. Love changes God the Judge into God the 
Father. He that cannot confide in love is unable to endure the look of the 
Most Loving." — Heubner. 

"The magnanimity of love, the patience of love, the endless gifts of all 
fruitful love — these are fitter to reveal the grandeur of God than thrones, and 
orbs, and the whole stellar universe. That He built the world, that He 
su.stained it — this gives us a thought of God by the outside. That He suf- 
fered for it, that He gave His life for it — this shows us God within. Now 
we see the heart and feel the disposition." — H. W. Beecher. 



Closet Promise. 

33 



-Beloved, let us love one another : for love is of God ; 



598 



FORTY-FIFTH WEEK. 



and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. — i John 
iv. 7. 

The Spirit of Love, wherever it is, is its own blessing and happiness, 
because it is the truth ^nd reahty of God in the soul ; and therefore is in the 
same joy of life, and is the same good to itself everywhere and on every 
occasion. Would you know the blessing of all blessings ? It is this God 
of Love dwelling in your soul, and killing every root of bitterness, which is 
the pain and torment of every earthly, selfish love. For all wants are satis- 
fied, all disorders of nature are removed, no life is any longer a burden, 
every day is a day of peace, everything you meet becomes a help to you, 
because everything you see or do is all done in the sweet, gentle element of 
Love. — Wm. Law. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. — Matt. iv. 4. 

"Weekly Proverb. — Speech is silvern, silence is golden. — Persian. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— CHAPTERS OF PURE GOLD. 

(Selected by Rev. C. H. Yatman.) 

Sunday. — Business Man's Chapter. — Prov. viii. 1-36. 
Monday. — Courage Chapter. — Josh. i. 1-18. 
Tuesday. — Charity Chapter. — i Cor. xiii. 1-13. 
Wednesday. — Duty Chapter. — Ezek. xxxiii. 1-33. 
Thursday. — Faith Chapter. — Heb. xi. 1-40. 
Friday. — Lost and Found Chapter. — Luke xv. 1-32. 
Saturday. — Messiah's Chapter. — Isa. liii. 1-12. 



THE SWINGING CHAIR. 



Come let us make a swinging chair — 

And this is how it is : 
I hold myself my own left wrist, 

And brother he holds his ; 
We grasp each other's right wrists now 

And make an even square — 
And here we have the rockaway, 

The little swinging chair. 

" Here now, you bonny Baby Bell, 
Come here and take a seat, 

We'll carry you across the stones 
That hurt your little feet. 



Just put one arm around my neck. 
And one around our brother — 

Oh, don't we have such jolly times 
A-playing with each other ! " 

Their mother said, when they came up — 
Their three heads in a row — 

" Why, that's a play I used to play 
Some twenty years ago ! " 

" Some twenty years ago ! " they cried, 
" Can you remember plays 

That happened twenty years ago — 
That many thousand days ? " 
— Amy Talbot Dunn in Wide-Awake. 



Be ready. — Titus iii. i. 

What I mean by our little verse to-day is. Be on hand, Be pitncUial. I 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 599 

will tell you a story that will illustrate it. In New Jersey, where I live, they 
call us ministers Dominies. One day a man said to his minister, " Dominie, 
that coat of yours is well worn ; you had better get a new one." The min- 
ister looked at his coat, and concluded to get a new one. Said his friend, 
" There is a tailor around the corner. He used to do a good business, but 
somehow he has been running down, until now he is very poor. I wish you 
would let him make the coat." The minister called on the tailor, and he 
agreed to have the coat ready by Saturday. Saturday the minister called 
for it. " Oh, that coat ! " said the man ; " yes, it ought to have been done 
to-day ,\)\!it I have neglected it; but I will have it for sure on Tuesday." 
The minister did not call until Wednesday. The coat wasn't done yet, and 
now it was promised for Thursday. On the Saturday following the minister 
went after it, and found that the tailor had moved. He hunted him up. 
Said he, " I have been moving ; " and that was his excuse. By that time 
the minister saw why that man didn't get on in the world. What was the 
matter, children? What did he lack? " Punctuality." He wsisn'x. pro7npt. 
Napoleon was asked why he always beat his enemy. " Because," said he, 
" I am on the field of battle five minutes before he is." 



THE FIRST VOYAGE. 

I want you to look at this picture and study it very carefully. There are 
some important lessons in it for all of us. The father has brought the boat 
close to the dock. The little boy is all dressed and ready. His mother is 
bidding him " good-bye." She still continues to hold his hand in hers, 
while she gives him her parting advice. I imagine she tells him " not to 
forget to be good," and " to say his prayers " while on ship-board ; and she 
promises she will pray for him. 

Now, children, life is a voyage on a great river — the river of time. You 
have all just started on this voyage. But soon you will pass from childhood 
to youth, from youth to manhood or womanhood, and then to old age — 
and you can hardly tell when or how it was done. On our globes and 
maps we have lines to mark the parallels of distance ; but these lines are 
only on the map. Crossing the equator or the tropic, we see no score in 
the water, no line in the sky to mark it ; and the vessel gives no lurch, no 
alarum sounds from the sky, no call is emitted from the deep; and it is only 
the man of skill, the pilot or the captain, who can tell that a definite portion 
of the voyage is completed. And so far, our life is like a voyage on an 
open sea — each day so like the other that we might fancy the charmed 
ship is standing still. But it is not so. We are either sailing or driftiiig 
down the stream of time toward the ocean of eternity. You will soon be 
men and women — away from father and mother — out in the great busy 
world. Let us not forget our father's counsel and our mother's advice. 
There will be times when you will have to face danger. When the disciples 
were in their little vessel, tossed by the storm on the sea of Galilee, they 
wanted some one to help them. They found such a one in Jesus their 
Saviour. And so when you are exposed to sickness, danger and death you 
can't preserve yourselves ; your best friends can't preserve you. But Jesus 
can do it. He counts the hairs of our heads. He is about our path, and 
about our bed continually. He can take care of you. Take Jesus on ship- 
board with you. 

By-and-by the voyage will end. I hope all my readers have made prepa- 
ration to leave the ship when it comes into the harbor with a shout of joy, 
and to enjoy the better land forever ! 

" There all the shig's company meet. 

Who sailed with the Saviour beneath ; 
With shouting each other they greet, 
And triumph o'er sorrow and death. 

" The voyage of life's at an end ; 

The mortal affliction is past ; 

The age that in heaven they spend, 

Forever and ever shall last." 

(600) 



FORTY-SIXTH \VEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — ^Jesus saith unto them, Have faith in God. — Mark xi. 22. 



Let nothing disturb thee, 
Nothing affright thee ; 
All things are passing ; 
God never changeth ; 
Patient endurance 



Attaineth to all things ; 
Who Ciod possesseth, 
In nothing is wanting; 
Alone God sufSceth. 

— Santa Teresa's Bookmark. 



As birds, wheresoever they fly, always meet with the air ; so we, whereso- 
e\er we go, or wherever we are, always find God present. — Sales. 

There is no wrinkle upon the brow of Eternity. God is where He was at 
first; He continues forever a God of infinite power, able to save those that 
trust in Him. — Matiton. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Joseph Sold into Egypt. — Gen. xxxvii. 3-14; 23-36. 



3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all liis | 
children, because he was the son of his old age : 
and he made him a coat of many colours. 

4 And when his brethren saw that their fa- 
ther loved him UKjre than all Ir.s brethren, they 
hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto 
him. 

5 \ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he ' 
told it his brethren : and they hated him yet the 
more. 

6 And he said unto them. Hear, I pray you, 
this dream which I have dreamed : 

7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in 
the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also 
siood upright ; and, behold, your sheaves stood 
round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 

8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou 
indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have 
dominion over us? And they hated him yet 
the more f^r his dreams, and for his words. 

9 \ And he dreamed yet another dream, and 
told it his brethren, and said. Behold, I have 
dreamed a dream more; and, beliold, the sun 
and the moon and the eleven stars made obeis- 
ance to me. 

10 And he told // to his father, and to his 
brethren : and his father rebuked him, and said 
unto him. What is this dream that thou hast 
dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy breth- 
ren indeed come to bow down ourselves to 
thee to the earth ? 



11 And his brethren envied him; but his 
father observed the saying. 

12 ^ And liis brethren went to feed their 
father's flock in Shechem. 

13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy 
brethren feed thejlock in Shechem ? come, and I 
will send thee unto them. And he said to him. 
Here a)}i I. 

14 And he said to him. Go, I pray thee, see 
wliether it be well with thy brethren, and well 
with the flocks ; and bring me v/ord again. So 
he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he 
came to Shechem. 



23 ^ And it came to pass, when Joseph was 
come unto his brethren, that they stripped Jo- 
seph out of his coat, his coat of many colours 
that was on him ; 

24 And they took him, and cast him into a 
pit : and the pit 7uas empty, there was no water 
in it. 

25 And they sat down to eat bread : and they 
lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a 
company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with 
their camels bearing spicery and balm and 
myn h, going to carry it down to Egypt. 

26 And Judah said unto his bretliren, What 
profit is it if we slay our lirother, and conceal 
liis blood ? 



604 



FORTY-SIXTH WEKK. 



27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmael- 
ites, and let not our hand be upon him ; for he 
is our brother and our flesh : and his brethren 
were content. 

28 Then there passed by Midianites, mer- 
chantmen ; and they drew and lifted up Joseph 
out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmael- 
ites for twenty fietes of silver : and they 
brought Joseph into Egypt. 

29 ^ And Reuben returned unto the pit ; and, 
behold, Joseph was not in the pit ; and he rent 
his clothes. 

30 And he returned unto his brethren, and 
said, The child is not ; and I, whither shall I 
go? 

31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed 
a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the 
blood ; 



32 And they sent the coat of ma7iy colours, 
and they brought it to their father ; and said, 
This have we found : know now whether it be 
thy son's coat or no. 

33 And he knew it, and said, // is my son's 
coat ; an evil beast hath devoured him ; Joseph 
is without doubt rent in pieces. 

34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sack- 
cloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son 
many days. 

35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose 
up to comfort him ; but he reftised to be com- 
forted ; and he said, For I will go down into 
the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his 
father wept for him. 

36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt 
unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and 
captain of the guard. 



Joseph's is one of the most interesting histories in the world. He has 
the strange power of uniting our hearts to him as to a well-beloved friend. 
He had " the genius to be loved greatly," because he had the genius to love 
greatly, and his genius still lives in these Bible pages. 

"We discover in Joseph — i. A hated brother. The boy was his father's 
pet. Very likely he was the perfect picture of Rachel, who was gone, and 
so Jacob saw and loved in him his sainted wife. In token of love his father 
foolishly gave him a coat of many colors, to which, alas ! the color of blood 
was soon added. It was for no good reason that his brothers hated him. 
Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Not that he was a sneak- 
ing tell-tale, but he would not do as they did, nor would he hide from his 
father their evil doings. God means the children of a family to feel bound 
together by bands that grapple the heart and to stand true to one another's 
life's end. 2. Joseph was a type of Christ. Joseph, like Jesus, was his 
father's well-beloved son, the best of brothers, yet hated and rejected by 
his own ; was sold from envy for a few pieces of silver, endured a great 
temptation, yet without sin; was brought into a low estate and falsely con- 
demned; was the greatest of forgivers, the forgiver of his own murderers, 
and was in all things the son and hope of Israel." — y. Wells. 

Closet Promise. — Thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as 
waters that pass away. — Job xi. 16. 



I look around me, and think how many are in the same trouble as my- 
self, perhaps much greater, and they have no Father to go to. I look be- 
hind me, and think of all the way I have been led, and the mercy upon 
mercy which I have experienced. I look betieath me, and think of the hell 
which I deserve, but which has no place for me. I look before and above 



605 



me, and think of my heaven at the door. Jesus my forerunner there, my 
God there, where through wondrous grace I shall soon be myself. And 
by the time I have looked at this last all my trouble is gone. — i 
Bull. 



MONDAY. 

Joseph and his Brethren. — Gen. xlv. 



1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself be- I 
fore all them that stood by him ; and he cried, j 
Cause every man to go out from me. And 
there stood no man with him, while Joseph 
made himself known unto his brethren. i 

2 And he wept aloud : and the Egyptians 
and the house of Pharaoh heard. 

3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am 
Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his | 
brethren could not answer him ; for they were j 
troubled at his presence. t 

4 And Joseph said unto his brethren. Come 
near to me, I pray you. And they came near. 
And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom 
ye sold into Egypt. j 

5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry ; 
with yourselves, that ye sold me hither : for 
God did send me before you to preserve life. 

6 For these two years /ta/A the famine fieen 
in the land : and yet i/iere are five years, in the 
which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 

7 And God sent me before you to preserve 
you a posterity in the earth, and to save your 
lives by a great deliverance. 

8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, 
but God: and he hath made me a father to 
Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler ' 
throughout all the land of Egypt. j 

9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say 
unto him. Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath ; 
made me lord of all Egypt : come down unto 
me, tarry not : 

10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Go- 
shen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, 
and thy children, and thy children's children, 
and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou 
hast: 

1 1 And there will I nourish thee ; for yet 
there are five years of famine ; lest thou, and 
thy household, and all that thou hast, come to 
poverty. 

12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes 
of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth 
that speaketh unto you. 

13 And ye shall tell my father of all my 
glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen ; 
and ye shall haste and bring down my father 
hither. 

14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's 
neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his 
neck. 



15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and 
wept upon them : and after that his brethren 
talked with him. 

16 \ And the fame thereof was heard in 
Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are 
come : and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his 
servants. 

17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto 
thy brethren. This do ye ; lade your beasts, and 
go, get you unto the land of Canaan; 

18 And take your father and your house- 
holds, and come unto me : and I will give you 
the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat 
the fat of the land. 

19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; 
take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for 
your little ones, and for your wives, and bring 
your father, and come. 

20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good 
of all the land of Egypt is yours. 

21 And the children of Israel did so: and 
Joseph gave them wagons, according to the 
commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them pro- 
vision for the way. 

22 To all of them he gave each man changes 
of raiment ; but to Benjamin he gave three 
hundred /«>(-« of silver, and five changes of 
raiment. 

23 And to his father he sent after this man- 
ner ; ten asses laden with the good things of 
Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and 
bread and meat for his father by the way. 

24 So be sent his brethren away, and they 
departed : and he said unto them. See that ye 
fall not out by the way. 

25 \ And they went up out of Egypt, and 
came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their 
father, 

26 And told him, .saying, Joseph is yet alive, 
and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. 
And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them 
not. 

27 And they told him all the words of Jo- 
seph, which he had said unto them : and when 
he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to 
carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father re- 
vived. 

28 And Israel said. It is enough; Joseph my 
son is yet alive : I will go and see him before I 
die. 



606 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK. 

This marvellous history of Joseph teaches us that we are also guilty con- 
cerning our Brother. As for us and for our salvation He came down from 
heaven to save us by His death, so now that He has gone up to heaven He 
lives to save us by His life. He makes us feel our need of Him and stand 
before him self-accusing, self-condemned. 

" The dealings of Joseph with his brethren are, to a great extent, the very 
pattern of God's dealings with men. God sees us careless, in easily forgiv- 
ing ourselves our old sins ; and then, by trial and adversity and pain. He 
brings these sins to our remembrance, causes them to find us out, and at 
length extracts from us a confession, ' We are verily guilty.' And then, 
when tribulation has done its work. He is ready to confirm His love to us 
as ever was Joseph to confirm his love to his brethren." — R. C. Trench. 

The incident recorded in verse 14 is the most unquestionable instance in 
the Bible of tears of love. No other feeling but love made Joseph weep. 
Sorrow there could not have been, for at that moment, on his side at least, 
it was all joy. 

Closet Promise. — There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. 
— Prov. xviii. 24. 

Amid changes in our friendships which affect our welfare so deeply, it is 
a blessed comfort to be able to lift our thoughts to the Great Friend. He 
does not change ; He does not become estranged or hostile ; He does not 
move away ; He does not die. He is " the Friend that sticketh closer than 
a brother," and those who have gone to Him oftenest for help and have 
communed with Him most nearly declare with one consent that "He abideth 
faithfuiy — Edward Rondthaler, D. D. 

TUESDAY. 

Temptation. — James, i. 2-15. 



2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall 
into divers temptations; 

, 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith 
worketh patience. 

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that 
ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of 
God, that giveth to all 7)ien liberally, and up- 
braideth not ; and it shall be given him. 

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering : 
for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea 
driven with the wind and tossed. 

7 For let not that man think that he shall 



9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in 
that he is exalted : 

10 But the rich, in that he is made low : be- 
cause as the flower of the grass he shall pass 
away. 

1 1 For the sun is no sooner risen with a 
burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the 
flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the 
fashion of it perisheth : so also shall the rich man 
fade away in his ways. 

12 Blessed is the man that endureth tempta- 
tion: for when he is tried, he shall receive the 
crown of life, which the Lord hath promised 



receive any thing of the Lord. j to them that love him. 

8 A doubleminded man is unstable in all his 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am 

ways. I 



TUESDAY. 607 



tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted 
with evil, neither tempteth he any man : 

14 But every man is tempted, when he is 
drawn away of liis own lust, and enticed. 



15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth 
forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth 
forth death. 



" My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations ; know- 
ing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." " Patience is the 
ballast of the soul, that will keep it from rolling and tumbling in the greatest 
storms. And he that will venture out without this, to make him sail even 
and steady, will certainly make shipwreck and drown himself — first, in the 
cares and sorrows of this world ; and then in perdition." — Hopkins. 

" He will not suffer you to be tempted above that which ye are able ; but 
will with the temptation also make a way of escape." Make a zvay — cut a 
new road to get you out. 

" Though it is trying to be tempted, it is worse to be without any tempta- 
tion. Not to be tempted of the devil is the greatest temptation out of hell. 
The devil's war is better than the devil's peace. Carnal hypocrisy is a dumb 
and silent thing ; but it is terrible to be carried to hell zuithoiit any noise of 
feet. The wheels of Satan's chariot are sometimes oiled with carnal rest, 
and then they go without rattling or noise." — Selected. 

The place for true virtue is where virtue is tempted. " No man is formed 
in a cave ; that is the place for bats. No man is formed as an anchorite or 
ascetic. You are to be living men among living men, overcoming evil 
tendencies and temptations. It is there that God calls you to be full-orbed 
men in Christ Jesus." 

Closet Promise. — To Him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree 
of life. — Rev. ii. 7. 

" I never found any so religious and devout, that he had not sometimes a 
withdrawing of grace, or felt not some decrease of zeal. There was never 
saint so highly rapt and illuminated, who first or last was not tempted. 

" For he is not worthy of the high contemplation of God, who hath not 
been exercised with some tribulation for God's sake. 

" For temptation going before is wont to be a sign of comfort to follow. 

" For unto those that are proved by temptations heavenly comfort is 
promised. 'To him that overcometh,' saith He, ' I will give to eat of the 
tree of life.' " — Thomas A 'Kempis. 



608 



FORTY-SIXTH WKEK. 



WEDNESDAY. 

Two Sparkling Sonnets. — Psaims cxxxiii. ; cxxxiv. 



1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for 
brethren to dwell together in unity ! 

2 // is like the precious ointment upon the 
head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's 
beard : that went down to the skirts of his 
garments ; 

3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that 
descended upon the mountains of Zion : for 
there the Lord commanded the blessing, even 
life for evermore. 



1 Behold, bless ye the Lord, allj/i* servants 
of the Lord, which by night stand in the house 
of the Lord. 

2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and 
bless the Lord. 

3 The Lord that made heaven and earth 
bless thee out of Zion. 



Even in common literature Psalm cxxxiii. is frequently quoted for its 
perfume and dew. 

In the place where brotherly love abounds, " there the Lord commanded 
the blessing, even life for evermore!' " Where love reigns God reigns. 
Where love wishes blessing, there God commands the blessing. God has 
but to command, and it is done. He is so pleased to see His dear children 
happy in one another that He fails not to make them happy in Himself. 
He gives especially his best blessing of eternal life, for love is life ; dwelling 
together in love we have begun the enjoyments of eternity, and these shall 
not be taken from us. Let us love for evermore, and we shall live for ever- 
more. This makes Christian brotherhood so good and pleasant; it has 
Jehovah's blessing resting upon it, and it cannot be otherwise than sacred 
like ' the precious ointment,' and heavenly like ' the dew of Hermon.' " — 
C. H. Spiirgeon. 

Psalm cxxxiv. teaches us to pray for those who are continually minister- 
ing before the Lord, and it invites all ministers to pronounce benedictions 
upon their loving and prayerful people. 



Closet Promise. — I will lay me down in peace, and sleep ; 
Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. — Psalm iv. 8. 



for Thou, 



We sleep in peace in the arms of God, when we yield ourselves up to His 
providence, in a delightful consciousness of His tender mercies ; no more 
restless uncertainties, no more anxious desires, no more impatience at the 
place we are in ; for it is God who has put us there, and who holds us in 
His arms. Can we be unsafe where He has placed us ? — F'enelon. 



FGRTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



609 



THURSDAY. 



He Leadeth us. — John 



-i8. 



1 Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that 
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but 
climbeth up some other way, the same is a 
thief and a robber. 

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the 
shepherd of the sheep. 

3 To him the porter openeth ; and the sheep 
hear his voice : and he calleth his own sheep 
by name, and leadeth them out. 

4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, 
he goeth before them, and the sheep follow 
him; for they know his voice. 

5 And a stranger will they not follow, but 
will flee from him; for they know not the voice 
of strangers. 

6 This paralile spake Jesus unto them ; but 
they understood not what tilings they were 
which he spake unto them. 

7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the 
sheep. 

8 All that ever came before me are thieves 
and robbers : but the sheep did not hear them. 

9 I am the door : by me if any man enter 
in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, 
and find pasture. 

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, 
and to kill, and to destroy : I am come that 



they might have life, and that they might 
have it more abundantly. 

1 1 I am the good shepherd : the good shep- 
herd giveth his Hie for the sheep. 

12 But he that is a hireling, and not the 
shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth 
the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and 
fleetli ; and the wolf catcheth them, and scat- 
tereth the sheep. 

13 The hireling fleeth, because he is a hire- 
ling, and carelh not for the sheep. 

14 I am the good sheplierd, and know my 
sheep and am known of mine. 

15 As the Father knowelh me, even so know 
I the Father : and I lay down my life for the 
siieep. 

16 And other sheep I have, which are not of 
this fold : them also I must bring, and they 
shall hear my voice ; and there shall be one 
fold, and one shepherd. 

17 Therefore doth my Father love me, be- 
cause I lay down my life, that I might lake it 
again. 

18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it 
down of myself. I have power to lay it down, 
and I have power to take it again. This com- 
mandment have I received of my Father. 



" It is the nature of sheep to follow — not to lead. Thus would Jesus 
have His people ' follow Him.' His sheep are defenceless apart from Him. 
Hence, ist. ' He goeth before them' — To confront danger, to provide pas- 
ture, to inspire confidence, to give rest. 2d. ' They follow Him.' The 
shepherd's call will rally all his own from flocks of hundreds. ' They know 
his voice.' Only His own will follow Him — He is a stranger to the rest. 
If we are not of His flock, ' there is no beauty in Hiin that we should desire 
Him.' These are the tests of your belongings : (i) Yoii know His voice. No 
other can attract you from peril or temptation, or greener pastures. You 
know His voice in rebuke and in chastisement. (2) You follow Him. He 
is never a stranger, wherever met. His fresh tracks are pledges of His 
nearness, your safety and help. This is the supreme value of a godly life — 
it follows only where it knows. Has certainty, therefore liberty. It flees 
from a stranger — it follows no voice but His. Hearing that, it goes any- 
where, and is safe as if in heaven." — Rev. John Parker. 

" I think our Father in heaven calls us by name. He knows how to 
think and speak of us individually. Every one of us stands before Him as 
different from all other beings. You ha\'c a riglit and title in God just as 



610 



FORTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



your child has in you. You have a personal relation to Him. You may 
come to Him as having a separate interest in Him. There is a place for you 
in His regard as just what you are. He is your own. He made you dis- 
tinct from everybody else, and He meant that you should trust in Him for 
your peculiar wants." — H. W. Beecher. 

Closet Promise. — My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they 
follow Me : and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. — John x. 27, 28. 



'When my sins, in aspect dread, 
Meet like waters o'er my head, 
Seen in light of God's own face, 
Darker for His offered grace; 
When I sigh for healing rest, 
By a hopeless yoke oppress'd; 
When I meet some foe unknown, 
Shall I find myself alone ? 
Hear the Shepherd's voice of old, 



Looking on His helpless fold : 
' Every feeble sheep I know ; 
Life eternal I bestow ; 
None shall pluck them from my hand. 
Shall that word of promise stand ? 
' Heaven and earth shall pass away. 
Not My words,' so Christ doth say. 
In death's grasp ' His truth shall be 
Shield and buckler unto me.' " 



FRIDAY. 

The Invitation of Wisdom. — Prov. 



1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath 
hewn out her seven pillars : 

2 She hath killed her beasts ; she hath min- 
gled her wine ; she hath also furnished her 
table. 

3 She hath sent forth her maidens : she cri- 
eth upon the highest places of the city, 

4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither : 
as for him that wanteth understanding, she 
saith to him, 

5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the 
wine which I have mingled. 

6 Forsake the foolish, and live ; and go in 
the way of understanding. 

7 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to him- 



self shame : and he that rebuketh a wicked 
man getteth himself a blot. 

8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee : 
rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. 

9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he 
will be yet wiser: teach a just maji, and he 
will increase in learning. 

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
wisdom : and the knowledge of the Holy is 
understanding. 

1 1 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, 
and the years of thy life shall be increased. 

12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for 
thyself: but z/" thou scornest, thou alone shalt 
bear it. 



In several chapters of Proverbs the Lord Jesus Christ is beautifully de- 
scribed under the figure of Wisdom. For He is " the Wisdom of God," 
and He is " made unto us Wisdom." 

In verse 5, He " gives a double invitation — to eat of His bread, and drink 
of His wine. These are the symbols of life and joy — His life and His joy. 
' Come, eat of My bread.' ' Feed on Him in thy heart by faith, with thanks- 
giving.' For Jesus Himself is the true Bread from heaven. And he that 
eateth of this Bread shall live forever. For He is the Bread of Life, life- 
giving and life-sustaining. ... It is not only the solid life-need of bread 
that is provided at the feast which the Lord has made for us, but Wine, the 




THE ENTOMBMENT. 

And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, 

and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid. — Luke xxiii. 55. 

612 



FRIDAY. 



613 



symbol of joy, ' that maketh glad the heart of man.' ' Come, buy wine and 
milk without money and without price,' because the price is already paid 
for it. His sorrow was the price of the joy offered to us. He poured out 
his soul unto death, that He might pour out His joy into our lives. He 
emptied the cup which His Father gave Him, that He might fill ours till it 
runs over. Without price to us — but oh, the price to Him ! . . . Oh come! 
and put your trust under the shadow of His wings ; and tlicn you shall be 
abundantly satisfied with the fatness of His house, and He shall make you 
drink of the river of His pleasures." — F. R. Havergal. 

Closet Promise. — Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. — 
Prov. xxix. 25. 

It was a prayer of George Herbert's that he might wholly be led to resign 
the rudder of his life to the sacred will of God, to be moved " as Thy love 
shall sway." How much fretting, how much worry, it would spare us all 
if we asked our heavenly Father that he would cause us to lean utterly in 
perfect faith, in cheerful, unquestioning obedience, upon His will and wis- 
dom, whether in life's trivial concerns or in those shades of darkness from 
which we recoil in fear! We can ask Him nothing beyond His power; 
some of us know the feeling, " In all but this I could say. Thy will be 
done ; " but if we will only tell the story at His feet, pouring out our hearts 
before Him, we shall be able to trust our Father, even to rejoice in Him, 
through every changeful pathway. 



SATURDAY. 

Nothing to Fear. — Isa. xli. 8-20. 



8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob 
-whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my 
friend. 

9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of 
the earth, and called thee from the chief men 
thereof, and said unto thee. Thou art my ser- 
vant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee 
away. 

10 Fear thou not ; for I am with thee : be 
not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will 
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I 
will uphold thee with the riglit hand of my 
righteousness. 

1 1 Behold, all they that were incensed against 
thee shall be ashamed and confounded : they 
shall be as nothing ; and they that strive with 
thee shall perish. 

12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find 
'hem, even them that contended with thee; 



they that war against thee shall be as nothing, 
and as a thing of nought. 

13 For I the Lord tliy God will hold thy 
right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not ; I will 
help thee. 

14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men 
of Israel ; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and 
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 

15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp 
threshing instrument having teeth : thou shalt 
thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and 
shalt make the hills as chaff. 

16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall 
carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter 
them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and 
shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. 

17 When the poor and needy seek water, and 
there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, 
1 the Lord will hear them, /the God of Israel 
will not f Tsake them. 



614 FORTY- SIXTH WEEK. 



18 I ^vill open rivers in high places, and 
fountains in the midst of the valleys : I will 
make the wilderness a pool of water, and the 
dry land springs of water. 

19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, 



tree ; I will set in ihe desert ihe fir tree, and the 
pine, and the bo.K tree together : 

20 That they may see, and know, and con- 
sider, and understand together, that the hand of 
the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of 



the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil Israel hath created it. 

It is as true now as it was in Isaiah's time, that those whom God has 
chosen have nothing to fear. ''For I am with thee." That is the reason 
why they should not be afraid. God is their protector, and of whom shall 
they be afraid ? " If God be for us, who can be against us ? " "What 
higher consolation can man desire than the assurance that He is with him 
to protect him ? 

" Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel ; I will help thee, 
saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel " (verse 14). 
Before we can do any great things for Christ there must be a sense of weak- 
ness : " worm Jacob." And yet, it is a certain fact, that though men be 
worms, they do what worms never could do ; how shall we account for this ? 
The mystery is unravelled here ; " I will help thee, saith the Lord." 

"There is no saying what a man can do when God is with him. Give 
God to a man, and he can do all things. Put God into a man's arm, and 
he may have only the jawbone of an ass to fight with, but he will lay the 
Philistines in heaps; put God into a man's hand, and he may have a giant 
to deal with, and nothing but a sling and a stone, but he will lodge the stone 
in the giant's brow before long ; put God into a man's eye, and he will flash 
defiance on kings and princes ; put God into a man's lips, and he will speak 
right honestly, though his death should be the wages of his speech. There 
is no fear of a man who has got God with him ; he is all-sufficient ; there is 
nothing beyond his power." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

Closet Promise. — I the Lord will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee. 
Fear not; I will help thee. — Isa. xli. 13. 

Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear ; 
rather look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, 
will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto, — do you but hold 
fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and, 
when you cannot stand. He will bear you in His arms. Do not look for- 
ward to what may happen to-morrow ; the same everlasting Father who 
cares for you to-day, will take care of you to-morrow, and every day. 
Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing 
strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts 
and imaginations. — Francis de Sales. 



FORTY-SIXTH WEEK. 



615 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — He satisfieth the longing soul, and fiUeth the 
hungi)- soul with goodness. — Psalm cvii. 9. 

Weekly Proverb. — There is no worse robber than a bad book. — 
Italian. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— CHAPTERS OF PURE GOLD. 

{Selected by C. H. YcUman.) 

Sunday. — Prayer Chapter. — John xvii. 1-26. 
Monday. — Poor Man's Chapter. — Luke xiv. 1-35. 
Tuesday. — Rest Chapter. — Heb. iv. 1-16. 
Wednesday. — Rich Man's Chapter. — Luke xvi. 1-3 1. 
Thursday. — Safety Chapter. — Psa. xci. 1-16. 
Friday. — Shepherd's Chapter. — John x. 1-42. 
Saturday. — Sad Chapter. — Luke xxii. 1-71. 

GRACIE'S DISCOVERY. 



A little girl who always cried 

When mamma combed her hair, 
And washed her dimpled face and hands 

To make her sweet and fair, 
Was whining dreadfully one day ; 

But mamma worked away. 
And told all sorts of curious things 

To keep the frowns at bay. 

She said the tangled, snarly curls. 

Were wilted little vines ; 
And comb and water freshened them, 

And made them grow and shine ; 
The rosy cheeks, and violet eyes, 

And lily brow, were soiled 
With roadside dust, and needed showers, 

To keep from being .spoiled. 



A few days after clouds came up, 

And rain came pattering down, 
And scattered blessings everywhere. 

In forest, field, and town ; 
The drooping flowers showed brighter tints, 

The grass a deeper green, 
And everything looked fresh and glad, 

Where'er the rain had been. 

The rain-drops trembled on the trees, 

And sparkled in the sun ; 
The birds sang loud and joyously, 

Because the rain was done ; 
And then to mamma, in surprise, 

Came wondering little Grace ; 
" O mamma, mamma, come and see ! 

The world has washed its face ! " 

—Mrs. R. M. Dumas. 



Perseverance. — Eph. vi. 18. 

One day a party of boys and girls were going into the country to pick 
huckleberries. One little fellow could hardly contain himself for joy. He 
had a big basket on his arm, and was just going out the gate, when his 
father called him back. He took hold of his arm and said in a very gentle 
voice: " Joseph, what are you going for — to pick berries or to play?" 
" To pick berries," he replied. " Then, Joseph, I want to tell you one thing. 
It is this : when you find a pretty good bush, do not leave it to find a better 
one. The other bo\- and girls will run about, picking here and there a 



616 FORTY-SIXTH WEEK. 

little, wasting a good deal of time and not getting many berries. If you 
want berries, stick to your bush." The boy went, but it was just as his 
father said. No sooner had one found a good bush than he called all the 
rest, and they left their places, and ran off to the new-found treasure.- But 
Joseph " stuck to his bush." When he had done with one, he found 
another, and finished that; then he took another. When night came he had 
a large basketful of berries, more than all the others put together. He went 
home happy ; his father looked at the berries, and said, " Well done, Joseph. 
Always stick to your bush." Dear children, the lesson I want you to learn 
is perseverance. This is a good motto: " Stick to your bush." One of the 
first elements of success is sticktoitiveness. 



THE REPROOF. 

This little child has been disobedient. We cannot tell what he has done 
that is wrong, but something. And now the mother is reproving him for 
it. Dear children, nothing pains your parents more than to have to punish 
you. Parents, if good, do not love to punish. They dread it ; but some- 
times they must do it from necessity. 

"What would I not give," said Charles Lamb, "to call my dear mother 
back to earth for a single day, to ask her pardon, upon my knees, for all 
those acts by which I grieved her gentle spirit." But after father and 
mother are dead, it is too late. The time for children to show affection 
and gratitude is along the years, while father and mother are living and 
treading earth's paths. If they then strew thorns for their feet, what does 
it avail that they bring flowers for their burial ? Be careful not to grieve 
your parents either in words or acts. If we love them as we ought, we 
shall not only do all that they tell us, but shall try to do everything that 
we know will please them, whether they tell us to do so or not. 

Here are two wholesome maxims : 

If you, your lips, would keep from slips. 

Five things observe with care, 
Of whom you speak, to whom you speak, ~ * 

And how and when and where : 
If you, your ears, would save from jeers, 

These things keep meekly hid, 
Myself and /, and mine and why ; 

And how I do, or did. 




THE REPROOF. 
617 



FORTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself. — Psalm : 



Set apart for Jesus ! 

Is not this enough. 
Though the desert prospect 

Open wild and rough ? 

Set np.Tit for His delight, 

Chosen for His holy pleasure, 



Sealed to be His special treasure ! 
Could we choose a nobler joy? — and 
would we, if we might ? 

— F. R. Havergal. 



There is no portion of our time that is our time, and the rest God's ; 
there is no portion of money that is our money and the rest God's money. 
It is all His ; He made it all, gives it all, and He has simply trusted it to us 
for His service. A servant has two purses, the master's and his own ; but 
we have only one. — Monod. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

'The Redeemed of the Lord.' 



l.xii. 



1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, 
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until 
ihe righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, 
and the salvation thereof as a lamp l/iai burneth. 

2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteous- 
ness, and all kings thy glory : and thou shall be 
called by a new name, which the mouth of the 
Lord shall name. 

3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the 
hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the 
hand of thy God. 

4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken ; 
neither shall thy land any more be termed 
Desolate : but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, 
and thy land Beulah ; for the Lord delighteth 
in thee, and thy land shall be married. 

5 ^ For as z. young man marrieth a virgin, so 
shall thy sons marry thee : and as the bride- 
groom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God 
rejoice over thee. 

6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O 
Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace 
day nor night : ye that make mention of the 
Lord, keep not silence. 



7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and 
till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 

8 The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, 
and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no 
more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies ; 
and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy 
wine, for the which thou hast laboured: 

9 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, 
and praise the Lord ; and they that have 
brought it together shall drink it in the courts of 
my holiness. 

10 ^ Go through, go through the gates; pre- 
pare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up 
the higliway; gather out the stones; lift up a 
standard for the people. 

11 Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto 
the end of the world. Say ye to the daughter of 
Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh ; behold, his 
reward is with him, and his work before him. 

12 And they shall call them. The holy people. 
The redeemed of the Lord : and thou shalt be 
called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. 



God's delight in His people finds multiform and urgent expression in 
His word. Perhaps nowhere do we find this more clearly revealed than in 
this chapter. / 

34 (619) 



620 



FORTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



"Tliou shall be a crozvii of glory " and a " roj'a/ diadem in the hatid of thy 
God.'" Thou shalt be so beautiful and prosperous as to be appropriately 
regarded as a splendid crown or diadem. 

Thy name shall be changed. Thou shalt be called " Hephzi-bah." Lit- 
erally the word means, " My delight is in her." And thy land "^^///rt/i!." 
The word means, ''Married ;" or, rather, "Thou art married." Lowth ren- 
ders it " the wedded matron." God says here that the appropriate name 
henceforward would not be the Forsaken, but tJie married one — the one 
favored and blessed of God. "And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the 
bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." 

We may all aspire to these honors ; and, coming in the name of Christ, 
we shall not be refused or forsaken ; but we should well consider the recip- 
rocal duties which result from such high relations. If God rejoice over us 
and over His church, surely we should rejoice in His favor and service, and 
desire no other happiness. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord will be the hope of His people. — ^Joel iii. i6. 



When the tempest rages high, 

Sailing on life's boisterous sea. 
Stormy billows I defy ; 



If I then may only be 
Anchored to the rock.' 



MONDAY. 

Thk Covenant Psalm." — Psalm Ixxxix. 



1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for 
ever : with my mouth will I make known thy 
faithfulness to all generations. 

2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up 
for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in 
the very heavens. 

3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I 
have sworn unto David my servant, 

4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build 
up thy throne to all generations. Selah. 

5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, 
O Lord : thy faithfuhiess also in the congrega- 
tion of the saints. 

6 For who in the heaven can be compared 
unto the Lord? ',vJio among the sons of the 
mighty can be likened unto the Lord? 

7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly 
of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all 
ihem that are about him. 

8 O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong 
Lord like unto thee ? or to thy faithfulness 
round abovit thee ? 

9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea : when 
the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. 

10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one 



that is slain ; thou hast scattered thine enemies 
with thy strong arm. 

1 1 The heavens are thine, the earth also is 
thine : as for the world and the fulness thereof, 
thou hast founded them. 

12 The north and the south thou hast created 
them : Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy 
name. 

13 Thou hast a mighty arm : strong is thy 
hand, and high is thy right hand. 

14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of 
thy throne : mercy and truth shall go before thy 
face. 

15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful 
sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light 
of thy countenance. 

16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day : 
and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. 

1 7 For thou art the glory of their strength : 
and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. 

18 For the Lord is our defence; and the 
Holy One of Israel is our king. 

19 Then Jiou spakest in vision to thy holy 
one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is 



MONDAY. 



621 



mighty; I have exalted o«* chosen out of the 
people. 

20 I have found David my servant; with my 
holy oil have I anointed him : 

21 With whom my hand shall be established : 
mine arm also shall strengthen him. 

22 The enemy shall not exact upon him ; nor 
tlie son of wici^edness afflict him. 

23 And I will beat down his foes before his 
face, and plague them that hate him. 

24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be 
with him: and in my name shall his horn be 
exalted. 

25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his 
right hand in the rivers. 

26 He shall cry unto me, Thou a7-t my fa- 
ther, my God, and the rock of my salvation. 

27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher 
than the kings of the earth. 

28 My mercy will I keep for him for ever- 
more, and my covenant shall stand fast with 
him. 

29 His seed also will I make to endure f(;i- 
ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. 

30 If his children forsake my law, and walk 
not in my judgments ; 

31 If they break my statutes, and keep not 
my commandments; 

32 Then will I visit their transgression with 
the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 

33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not 
utterly take from him, nor sufl'er my faithfulness 
to fail. 

34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter 
the thing that is gone out of my lips. 

35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I 
will not lie unto David. 

36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his 
throne as the sun before me. 

37 It shall be established for ever as the 



moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. 
Selah. 

38 But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou 
hast been wroth with thine anointed. 

39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy 
servant : thou hast profaned his crown by easting 
it to the ground. 

40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges ; 
thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin. 

41 All that pass by the way spoil him : he is 
a reproach to his nsighbours. 

42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his 
adversaries ; thou hast made all his enemies to 
rejoice. 

43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his 
sword, and hast not made him to stand in the 
battle. 

44 Thou hast made his glory to cease, and 
cast his throne down to the ground. 

45 The days of his youth hast thou Short- 
ened : thou hast covered him with shame. 
Selah. 

46 How long. Lord ? wilt thou hide thyself 
for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire? 

47 Remember how short my time is : where- 
fore hast thou made all men in vain ? 

48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not 
see death ? shall he deliver his soul from the 
hand of the grave ? Selah. 

49 Lord, where are thy former lovingkind- 
nesses, tuhich thou swarest unto David in thy 
truth ? 

50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy 
servants ; Iio-^^ I do bear in my bosom the re- 
proach o/all the mighty people ; 

5 1 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, 
O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the 
footsteps of thine anointed. 

52 Blessed (5^ the Lord for evermore. Amen, 
and Amen. 



This majestic Covenant Psalm " is the utterance of a believer, in presence 
of great national disaster, pleading with his God, urging the grand argument 
of covenant engagements, and expecting deliverance and help, because of 
the faithfulness of Jehovah." — C. H. Spnrgeon. 

"The psalmist has a very sad complaint to make of the deplorable condi- 
tion of the family of David at this time, and yet he begins the psalm with 
songs of praise ; for we must in every thing, in every state, give thanks. 
We think when we are in trouble we get ease by complaining ; but we do 
more, we get joy by praising. Let our complaints therefore be turned into 
thanksgiving ; and in these verses we find that which will be in matter of 
praise and thanksgiving for us in the worst times, whether upon a personal 
or public account." — Matthew Henry. 

Note the psalmist here speaks o{ faithfulness^ which is the mercy of God's 
mercies — the brightest jewel in the crown of goodness. " In times of 



622 



FORTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



trouble it is the divine faithfulness which the soul hangs upon ; this is the 
bovver anchor of the soul, its holdfast and its stay." 

Closet Promise. — " The Lord is my defence ; and my God is the rock 

of my refuge." — Psalm xciv. 22. 

The simple fact is, that in all the engagements God makes, He puts His 
own truth at stake. Hence, when we lay hold of a text of Scripture, it is 
all that a fnaxim of Plato or Confucius would be, and, in addition, it is God 
Himself. There was no irreverence — nothing, indeed, but clearest intelli- 
gence and firmest faith — in the reply made by a harassed believer to the 
ribald skeptic, who told her that God's covenant might fail at the last, for 
she had no hold upon Him. "Ah, no fear of that," she answered ; " He has 
more to lose in it than I have." 



TUESDAY. 

Brotherly Love. — i John iii. 10-24. 



10 In this the children of God are manifest, 
and the children of the devil : whosoever doeth 
not righteousness is not of God, neither he that 
loveth not his brother. 

1 1 For this is the message that ye heard 
from the beginning, that we should love one 
another. 

12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, 
and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he 
him ? Because his own works were evil, and his 
brother's righteous. 

13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate 
you. 

14 We know that we have passed from death 
unto life, because we love the brethren. He 
that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 

15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a mur- 
derer : and ye know that no murderer hath 
eternal life abiding in him. 

16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, be- 
cause he laid down his life for us : and we 
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 

17 But whoso hath this world's good, and 



seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his 
bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth 
the love of God in him ? 

18 My little children, let us not love in word, 
neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 

19 And hereby we know that we are of the 
truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 

20 For if our heart condemn us, God is 
greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 

21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, 
then have we confidence toward God. 

22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, 
because we keep his commandments, and do 
those things that are pleasing in his sight. 

23 And this is his commandment, That we 
should believe on the name of his Son Jesus 
Christ, and love one another, as he gave us com- 
mandment. 

24 And he that keepeth his commandments 
dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby 
we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit 
which he hath given us. 



Those who are drawn toward God are necessarily drawn toward each 
other. Why should any man suppose himself to be too good to do what 
Christ did? He did not feel that He was misspending His life when He 
carried His power in subservience for the benefit of mankind. 

" He continually laid down His life before He died for men. He was the 
Way, literally, and men seemed to walk on Him. He put His life, as it were, 
under their feet, and carried them. Now, why should we think it hard to, 



:^<^^-^-'' 



CHRIST APPEARS TO MARY. 

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto Him, Rabboni, 

which is to say, Master.— yo//« xx. i6. 

624 



TUESDAY. 



625 



do that which Christ cheerfully and gladly did for us ? Shall the disciple 
be greater than his Master, and the servant greater than his Lord ? " — H. 
W. Beecher. 

" So peculiar is this blessing to the gospel, that Christ appoints it for the 
badge and cognizance by which they should not only know one another, 
but even strangers should be able to know them from any other sect and 
sort of men in the world : ' By this shall all men know that ye are my dis- 
ciples, that ye love one another.' " — Gurnall. 

Closet Promise. — Hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the spirit 
which He hath given us. — i John iii. 24. 



' Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word, 
But as thou dwell'st with thy disciples, Lord, 



Familiar, condescending, patient, free. 
Come, not to sojourn, but to abide with me." 



WEDNESDAY. 



Lost and Found. — Luke xv. i-io. 



1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans 
and sinners for to hear him. 

2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, 
saying. This man receiveth sinners, and eateth 
with them. 

3 \ And he spake this parable unto them, 
saying, 

4 What man of you, having a hundred sheep, 
if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety 
and nine in the wilderness, and go after that 
which is lost, until he find it ? 

5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on 
his shoulders, rejoicing. 

6 And when he cometh home, he calleth 
together his friends and neighbours, saying unto 
them, Rejoice with me ; for I have found my 
sheep which was lost. 



7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be 
in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more 
than over ninety and nine just persons, which 
need no repentance. 

8 \ Either what woman having ten pieces of 
silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a 
candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently 
till she find it ? 

9 And when she hath found it, she. calleth 
her friends and her neighbours together, saying, 
Rejoice with me ; for I have found the piece 
which I had lost. 

10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in 
the presence of the angels of God over one 
sinner that repenteth. 



" God is as incapable of being indifferent towards His lost mankind, as is 
a mother towards her lost child. Lost mankind are not only His lost, but 
His lost children. His piece of money is Money indeed, for originally it 
came out of the mine of His Eternal Nature. Heathen poets. Christian 
Apostles, and modern philosophy are agreed that mankind 'are His off- 
spring.' And does not the Source of all hearts feel? And is He not con- 
cerned for His lost? In the Divinity of indifference I cannot believe. I 
could far more easily believe, that the Divine Heart carries a huge grief; 
and that ' the Man of Sorrows ' only partially represents the tenderness of 
Infinite Love. In human hearts, in mother's love, in angelic lOve, and in 
the Person of Jesus, the affections of God have a wide and wonderful revela- 



626 



FORTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



tion; but what the Divine Affections are in their Fountain-head must be 
beyond all revealing and conceiving. And yet I am strongly inclined to 
think that, to many, one great offence of the Gospel is, that it is too gracious, 
too tender, too womanly. They can believe in a God afar off, but they 
cannot believe in God ' nigh at hand.' They can conceive God to have 
Almighty Power, Infinite Wisdom and Justice, but they cannot give Him 
credit for Infinite Affection. They know that a woman will light a candle 
and go into every hole and corner, stooping and searching, until she find 
that which she has missed ; but they have no idea that this can be a true 
parable of God's concera for His lost children." — Piilsford. 

Closet Promise. — As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort 
you. — Isa. Ixvi. 13. 



Like a cradle rocking, rocking, 

Silent, peaceful, to and fro. 

Like a mother's sweet looks dropping 

On the little face below, 

Hangs the green earth, swinging, turning, 

Jarless, noiseless, safe, and slow; 

Falls the light of God's face bending 

Down and watching us below. 



And as feeble babes that suffer, 
Toss and cry and will not-rest, 
Are the ones the tender mother 
Holds the closest, loves the best; 



So when we are weak and wretched. 
By our sins weighed down, distressed. 
Then it is that God's great patience 
Holds us closest, loves us best. 

O great heart of God ! whose loving 
Cannot hindered be or crossed. 
Will not weary, will not even 
In our death itself be lost — 
Love divine ! of such great loving, 
Only mothers know the cost — 
Cost of love, which all love passing. 
Gave a Son to save the lost. 

— Saxe Holm. 



THURSDAY. 

The Prodigal Son. — Luke xv. 11-32. 



11 ^ And he said, A certain man had two 
sons : 

12 And the younger of them said to Ms father. 
Father, give me the portion of goods that 
falleth to me. And he divided unto them his 
living. 

13 And not many days after the younger son 
gathered all together, and took his journey into 
a far country, and there wasted his substance 
with riotous living. 

14 And when he had spent all, there arose a 
mighty famine in that land ; and he began to be 
in want. 

15 And he went and joined himself to a citi- 
zen of that country ; and he sent him into his 
fields to feed swine. 

16 And he would fain have filled his belly 
with the husks that the swine did eat: and no 
man gave unto him. 

17 And when he came to himself, he said. 
How many hired servants of my father's have 



bread enough and to spare, and I perish with 
hunger ! 

x8 I will arise and go to my father, and will 
say unto him. Father, I have sinned against 
heaven, and before ihee, 

19 And am no more worthy to be called thy 
son : make me as one of thy hired servants. 

20 And he arose, and came to his father. 
But when he was yet a great way off, his father 
saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell 
on his neck, and kissed him. 

21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have 
sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am 
no more worthy to be called thy son. 

22 But the father said to his servants. Bring 
forth the best robe, and put it on him ; and put 
a ring on his .hand, and shoes on his feet: 

23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill 
it ; and let us eat, and be merry : 

24 For this my son was dead, and is alive 



THURSDAY. 



627 



again ; he was lost, and is found. And they 
began to be merry. 

25 Now his elder son was in the field : and 
as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard 
music and dancinjj. 

26 And he called one of the servants, and 
asked what these things meant. 

27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is 
come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, 
because he hath received him safe and sound. 

28 And he was angry, and would not go in ; 
therefore came his father out, and entreated 
him. 



29 And he answering said to his father, I,o, 
these many years do I serve thee, neither trans- 
gressed I at anytime thy commandment ; and 
yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might 
make merry with my friends: 

30 But as soon as this thy son was come, 
which hath devoured thy living with harlots, 
thou hast killed for liini the fatted calf. 

31 And he said unto him. Son, thou art ever 
with me, and all that I have is thine. 

32 It was meet that we should make merry, 
and be glad : for this thy brother was dead, and 
is alive again ; and was lost, and is found. 



The three parables in this chapter fall into two sections, each setting 
forth separately one-half of a great truth, and both in combination exhibiting 
the whole, i. The first two parables illustrate conversion on its Divine 
side. Christ had to seek these lost publicans and sinners in order to find 
thenir 2. The third parable illustrates conversion on its human side, and 
was intended to imply that these publicans and sinners would never have 
been received by Christ unless they had sought Him. 3. The three parables 
combined illustrate conversion on both its Divine and human sides, and, conse- 
quently, the complete truth : God seeking man, and man seeking God ; and 
the two-fold search rewarded, by God and man finding each other. 

I. "Observe God's welcome to the repenting, (i) The tenderness of God 
is wonderful. He ' had compassion.' Great reason had God to be angry 
with that sinful creature, with me, with you ; but He ' had compassion.' (2) 
How willing God is to succour ! ' His father saw him, and had compassion, 
and ran ' to welcome him. ' Ran,' — willingness is too feeble an epithet to 
denote the impulse. There is eagerness in ' ran.' God is hasting to save 
and bless. (3) Pray do not overlook God's readiness to accept and pardon 
just as you are. ' Saw,' ' had compassion,' ' ran,' ' and fell on his neck, and 
kissed him.' 2. Noiv turn to beJiold how God lavishes His affection on the 
accepted penitent. The father is not going to treat his son as an ' hired 
servant' God's forgiveness must be God-like. God's love is always greater 
in experience than in our most sanguine wishes and brightest hopes. 3. 
Listeji to God's exhortation to His universe to share His joy. ' Bring hither 
the fatted calf, and kill it ; and let us eat and be merry.' ' Merry ' is an old 
Saxon word. Its meaning has somewhat narrowed and lowered'in our later 
tongue. ' Be merry,' here, in the original is ' rejoice.' A feast betokens 
gladness among all nations. The occasion is great, and great is to be the 
exaltation.' ' — Bishop Alexander. 



Closet Promise.— He delighteth in mercy. — Micah vii. 18. 



628 



FORTY-SEVENTH WEEK. 



' Return, return, thee to thine only rest, 
Lone pilgrim of the world, 
Far erring from the fold — 
By the dark niglit and risen storms distressed ; 
List, weary lamb, the Shepherd's anxious 

voice. 
And once again within His arms rejoice. 



' Return, return, thy fair white fleece is soiled, 
And by sharp briers rent — 
Thy little strength is spent ; 
Yet He will pity thee, thou torn and spoiled. 
There, thou art cradled on His tender breast; 
Now, never more, sweet lamb, forsake that 
rest." 



FRIDAY. 

The Wonderful. — Isa. ix. 



den, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his 
oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 

5 For every battle of the warrior is with con- 
fused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but 
this shall be with burning ai:d fuel of fire. 

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is 
given : and the government shall be upon his 
shoulder : and his name shall be called Won- 



1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such 
as was in her vexation, when at the first he 
lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and thS 
land of Naphtali, and afterward did more griev- 
ously afflict he?' by the way of the sea, beyond 
Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. 

2 The people that walked in darkness have 

seen a great light : they that dwell in the land _. . .._ 

of the shadow of death, upon them hath the derful. Counsellor, The mighiy God, The ever- 
light shined. i lasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not 7 Of the increase of his government and 
increased the joy : they joy before thee accord- peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of 
ing to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and 
when they divide the spoil. to establish it with judgment and with justice 

4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his bur- from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the 

Lord of hosls will perform this. 

There can be no doubt that the prophet here has reference to the Messiah. 
The scenes of coming times, like a panorama, or picture, pa.ssed before him. 
Most of the picture seems to have been that of battles, conflicts, sieges, 
dimness, and thick darkness. But in one portion of the passing scene there 
was light. It was the light that he saw rising in the distant and darkened 
Galilee. He saw the joy of the people ; the armor of war laid aside; the 
image of peace succeeding; the light expanding and becoming more intense 
as the darkness retired, until he saw in this region the Prince of Peace — the 
Sun of Righteousness Himself . 

"And His name shall be called Wonderful." The word is applied here 
to denote the unusual and remarkable assemblage of qualities that dis- 
tinguish the Messiah. These are specified in the rest of the verse. 

" The proper idea of the word is miraculous. It imports that the person- 
age here referred to, in His being and in His works, will be exalted above 
the ordinary course of nature, and that His whole manifestation will be a 
m i racle. ' ' — Hengstenberg. 

"The Messiah was wonderful in all things. It was wonderful love by 
which God gave Him, and by which He came ; the manner of His birth was 
wonderful ; His humility. His self-denial, His sorrows were wonderful ; His 
mighty works were wonderful ; His dying agonies were wonderful ; and His 
resurrection. His ascension, were all fitted to excite admiration and wonder." 

Rev. Albert Barnes, 



FRIDAY. 629 

Closet Promise. — Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace 
always by all means. — 2 Thess. iii. l6. 

Goethe, the talented and celebrated poet, unsatisfied in heart by the 
pleasures of his apparently happy youth, wrote the beautiful but painful 
sentiment : " Thou Heavenly One, who stillest every woe and sorrow, Thou 
who fiUest doubly with refreshing, the heart that is doubly miserable, alas ! I 
am tired of this roving in the train of pleasure. What signify all the pains and 
delights? Sweet peace, come, oh, come into my soul!" A noble lady, a 
friend of his, into whose hands these words fell, penned the still more 
beautiful answer : " ' Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : 
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, 
neither let it be afraid.' Jesus Christ." 

SATURDAY. 



How Long, Lord ? " — Habakkuk i. 



1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet 
did see. 

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou 
wilt not hear ! even cry out unto thee of vio- 
lence, and thou wilt not save ! 

3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and 
cause me to behold grievance ? for spoiling and 
violence are before me : and there are that raise 
up strife and contention. 

4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judg- 
ment doth never go forth : for the wicked doth 
compass about the righteous; therefore wrong 
judgment proceedeth. 

5 \ Behold ye among the heathen, and re- 
gard, and wonder marvellously : for I will work 
a work in your days, which ye will not believe, 
though it be told you. 

6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that 
bitter and hasty nation, which shall march 
through the breadth of the land, to possess the 
dwellingplaces that are not theirs. 

7 They are terrible and dreadful : their judg- 
ment and their dignity shall proceed of them- 
selves. 

8 Their horses also are swifter than the 
leopards, and are more fierce than the evening 
wolves : and their horsemen shall spread them- 
selves, and their horsemen shall come from far; 
they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. 

9 They shall come all for violence : their 
faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they 
shall gather the captivity as the sand. 



10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the 
princes shall be a scorn unto them : they shall 
deride every strong hold ; for they shall heap 
dust, and take it. 

1 1 Then shall his mind change, and he shall 
pass over, and offend, imputing this his power 
unto his god. 

12 ^ Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord 
my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die. 
O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judg- 
ment ; and, O mighty God, thou hast established 
them for correction. 

13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold 
evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore 
lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, 
and boldest thy tongue when the wicked 
devoureth the man that is more righteous than 
he? 

14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, 
as the creeping things, that have no ruler over 
them ? 

15 They take up all of them with the angle, 
they catch them in their net, and gather them 
in their drag : therefore they rejoice and are 
glad. 

16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, 
and burn incense unto their drag ; because by 
them their portion is fat, and their meat plen- 
teous. 

17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and 
not spare continually to slay the nations ? 



"O Lord, how long shall I cry?" It is the cry, in one, of all which is 
wrong to the God of Justice, of all suffering to the God of Love, 



(330 



FORTY -SEVENTH WEEK. 



" When shall this scene of sin, and confusion, and wrong be at an end, 
and the harmony of God's creation be restored ? How long shall evil not 
exist only, but prevail ? It is the cry of the souls under the altar, ' How 
long, O Lord, Holy and True, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood 
on them that dwell on the earth?' It is the voice of the oppressed against 
the oppressor ; of the Church against the world ; weary of hearing the Lord's 
Name blasphemed, of seeing wrong set up on high, holiness trampled under 
feet. It is in its highest sense His Voice, Who, to sanctify our longings 
for deliverance, said in the days of His Flesh, ' I cry in the day-time, but 
Thou hearest not.' " — E. B. Pusey, D. D. 

" How long must men suffer? Just as long as God sees that as scholars 
they need to suffer. . . . ' How long, Lord ? O Lord, how long ? " — to that 
no answer ever came. As long as it is necessary, and, as a general rule, as 
long as suffering is irksome, and you say, ' I can not bear it,' so long you 
need it. When you have had suffering till you can say, ' If it please God I 
can carry it all my life,' then, if ever, God can release you from it." — H. W. 
Beechcr. 

Closet Promise. — We know that all things work together for good to 
them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. — 
Rom. viii. 28. 



"God's plans, like lilies, pure and white unfold ; 

We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart — 
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold. 

And if, through patient toil, we reach the 
land 



Where tired feet with sandals loose may rest, 

Where we shall clearly know and understand, 
I think that we shall say, ' God knows the 
best.' " 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good 
of the land. — Isa. i. 19. 

Weekly Proverb. — Prayers and Provender hinder no journey. — Poor 
Richard. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— CHAPTERS OF PURE GOLD. 

[Selected by Rev. C. H. Yatma7i.) 

Sunday. — Soldier's Chapter. — Eph. vi. 1-24. 
Monday. — Traveller's Chapter. — Psa. cxxi. 1-8. 
Tuesday. — Tonic Chapter. — Psa. xxvii. 1-14. 
Wednesday. — Victory Chapter. — Rom. viii. I-39. 
Thursday. — Wisdom Chapter. — Prov. iii. 1-35. 



THIi CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



631 



Friday. — Work Chapter. — Jas. ii. 1-26. 
Saturday. — Wife's Chapter. — Prov. xxxi. 10-31. 



WORK AND WIN. 



The sweetest cherries, mind you, lad, 

Grow highest on the tree ; 
And would you win the fairest fruit, 

One thing I'll say to thee : 
It falls not at the clicking gay 

Of an idler's pelf— 
You'll have to climb the rugged tree, 

And gather for yourself. 

'Tis vain to wait the fruit to fall, 

Or pelt the tree with stones — 
You'll have to struggle bravely up, 

And risk some broken bones ; 
You only waste your time below, 

And get indifferent pay — 
If you would reach the ripest fruit, 

Just throw your fears away. 



'Tis so with everything in life 

That's worth the owning, lad — 
With learning, wealth, and character — 

The best, the good and great have had ; 
They come not at the nod or hest 

Of any idle hand: 
'Tis only those who bravely toil 

May have them at command. 

If, then, you want the ripest fruit, 

Just labor till you win; 
But mind thee, boy, while up you climb, 

Keep heart and hand from sin ; 
The best and grandest guerdon, lad, 

If bought with wicked wage, 
No peace and comfort yields at last. 

But curses on your age. 

— ChTistian Observer. 



Be ye reconciled. — 2 Cor. v. 20. 

I wonder, how many of my little friends can tell what the word " reconciled " 
means. I will tell you what a little girl said it was. To the question, 
" What is reconciliation ? " asked at a school-examination, she replied, 
" Second friendship!' That was a splendid answer. You know sometimes, 
when people have had a quarrel, they say they have " made tip again!' 
Now reconciliation means to make up. A boy who had offended his father 
came to him, saying, " Papa, I cannot learn my lesson unless you are recon- 
ciled. I am sorry I have offended you, and hope I shall never do so again. 
I hope you will forgive me." This confession won from the father the kiss 
of reconciliation. " Now," exclaimed the boy, " I will learn Latin and 
Greek with anybqdy." You see it made him happy, when he confessed his 
wrong. So, when you have done wrong, confess it and ask forgiveness. 
Do the same way with God. " Which is the most delightful feeling ? " asked 
a teacher of some little deaf and dumb boys and girls. They all turned to 
their slates : one wrote " joy ; " another, " hope ; " another, " gratitude ; " 
another, "love." One turned back with a face full of peace ; on her slate 
she had written the word " repentance." " Why ? " she was asked. " Oh !" 
said she, " it is so delightful to be humble before God ! " 



RETURNING HOME. 

This beautiful picture suggests to me the thought of usefulness. This Httle 
girl has been to the fields to carry her father's dinner. She is now return- 
ing home with the basket. On the way she has gathered a bundle of sticks 
for the fire, and an apronful of flowers to gladden the home. She is of 
use, you see, to her parents. 

Now, I want you to try to be useful. Begin to-day. There are many 
things a little child can do to help father or mother. Just stop a moment 
and begin to count up what you can do. Oh ! how many things ! I can 
think of the following which a little girl can do : help mind the baby ; help 
with the dishes ; answer the door-bell ; do the dusting ; sweep the pavement; 
keep her own room in nice order ; and lots of other things. And I can 
think of the following which a boy can do : run to the store ; carry up coal ; 
cut the kindling ; and lots of errands. If we have only the will, we shall 
soon find something to do. " Uncle John," said a little girl, about four or 
five years old, to her uncle — a tall man, full six feet high — when he rose up 
to go away — " Uncle John, do let me help you on with your coat." " You 
are not big enough to do that yet, my dear child," said her uncle. " Well, 
then," said little Mary, " do let me fetch your hat and cane." Mary was 
resolved to do something for her uncle ; and if she couldn't do one thing, 
she was quite ready to do another. And if we all had the same desire to 
be useful, that little Mary had, we should soon find something to do. 

Don't say, " Oh, I'm too little; I can't do anything!" Nobody is too 
little to do something. If you pick up a tiny pebble, not bigger than the 
end of your little finger, and throw it into a pond, you know how it will make a 
circular ripple on its smooth surface, that will go on, getting wider and wider, 
till at last it reaches the shore. And just so, when we try to do the least 
thing, like the ripple on the pond, it will spread itself out for good to all who 
are round about us. 



' Not mighty deeds make up the sum 

Of happiness below, 
But little acts of kindliness, 
Which any child may show. 

A merry sound, to cheer the babe, 
And tell a friend is near ; 

A word of ready sympathy, 
To dry the childish fear, — 

A glass of water, kindly brought ; 

An offered easy-chair ; 
A turning of the window blind. 

That all may feel the air; 



An early flower, unasked, bestowed ; 

A light and cautious tread ; 
A voice to gentlest whisper hushed. 

To spare the aching head ; 

Oh, deeds like these, though little things, 

Yet, purest love disclose, 
As fragrant perfume on the air 

Reveals the hidden rose. 

Our Heavenly Father loves to sec 
These precious fruits of love ; 

And if we only serve Him here, 
We'll dwell with Him above." 



(632) 




RETURNING HOME. 
633 



FORTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion : in the secret 
of His tabernacle shall He hide me ; He shall set me up upon a rock. — Psalm xxvii. 5. 



Yet trouble springs not from the ground, 

Nor pain from chance ; 
The Eternal order circles round 



And wave and storm find mete and bound 
In Providence. 

—Selected. 



Only those are crowned and sainted 
Who with grief have been acquainted. 



-Longfellow. 



It was a storm that occasioned the discovery of the gold mines in India. 
Hath not a storm driven some to the discovery of the richer mines of the 
love of God in Christ ? — Owen. 

I've seen some old broken bowls planted out with the bonniest flowers 
and mosses, and I've thought if it had not been for their misfortune they 
would never have come to such honor and beauty. — E. Garrett. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Christ's Garden. — Sol. Song iv. 



1 ^ Behold, thou ai-t fair, my love ; behold, 
thou art fair ; thou hast doves' eyes within thy 
locks : thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear 
from mount Gilead. 

2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are 
even shorn, which came up from the washing ; 
whereof every one bear twins, and none is bar- 
ren among them. 

3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and 
thy speech is comely : thy temples are like a 
piece of a pomegranate ^\ilhin thy locks. 

4 Thy neck /.rlike the tower of David builded 
for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand 
bucklers, all shields of nii^'hty men. 

5 Thy two breasts ar, like two young roes 
that are twins, which feed among the lilies. 

6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee 
away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, 
and to the hill of frankincense. 

7 Thou art all fair, my love ; there is no spot 
in thee. 

8 \ Come with me from Lebanon, 77iy spouse, 
with me from Lebanon : look from the top of 
Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, 
from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the 
leopards. 



9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my 
spouse ; thou hast ravished my heart with one 
of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 

10 How fair is thy love, my sister, viy spouse ! 
how much better is thy love than wine ! and the 
smell of thine ointments than all spices! 

11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honey- 
comb : honey and milk are under thy tongue; 
and the smell of thy garments is like the smell 
of Lebanon. 

12 A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse ; 
a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 

13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegran- 
ates, with pleasant fruits ; camphire, with .spike- 
nard, 

14 Spikenard and saffron ; calamus and cin- 
namon, with all trees of frankincense ; myrrh 
and aloes, with all the chief spices : 

15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living 
waters, and streams from Lebanon. 

16 \ Awake, O north wind ; and come, thou 
south ; blow upon my garden, that the spices 
thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come 
into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. 



(635) 



636 



FORTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



The Cluuxh of Jesus is His garden (verses 12-15), ^"^ every plant in it, 
which the heavenly Father has planted, must flourish, with all the increase 
of God, as trees of the Lord's right hand planting. Even the tenderest 
plants, the youngest of His people, form a part in this orchard of pome- 
granates ; for every one has been taken out of nature's wild wilderness, and 
brought, by God's grace, into the Lord's garden, His Church ; and, like 
pomegranates, a large and full-bearing fruit, sweet and delicious, they are in 
Jesus' eye most pleasant, from the beauty and comeliness He hath put upon 
them 

"Come zvith Me" says Jesus (verse 8). "I do not think we consider 
enough how we disappoint the love of Jesus when we refuse to come with 

Him. For He does truly and literally desire us to be with Him 

Love craves nearness. This is the very thing that differences love from the 
lesser glow of mere pity, or kindness, whatever their degrees or combina- 
tions. The Lord Jesus would not say, ' Come with Me,' if He did not feel 
towards us something far beyond any degree of pity and kindness. It is 

the Royal Invitation of His kingly love There is a beautiful type 

which tells us how a maiden was chosen to be the bride of the son of 
' a mighty prince ' in a far off land. She was to answer for herself about it, 
and so they said, ' we will call the damsel and enquire at her mouth. And 
they called Rebekah, and said. Wilt thou go with this man ? And she said, 
I will go! Shall this h& your answer to-day ? " — F. R. Havergal. 



Closet Promise.- 

Song vi. 3. 



-I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine. — Sol. 



' There are who sigh that no fond heart is 
theirs : 
None loves them best ! O vain and selfish 
sigh ! 
Out of the bosom of His love He spares, 

The Father spares the Son, for thee to die ! 
For thee He died; for thee Me lives again ; 
O'er thee He watches in his boundless 
reign. 



Thou art as much His care as if beside 

Nor man nor angel lived in heaven or earth. 

Thus sunbeams pour alike their glorious tide 

To light up worlds, or wake an insect's 

mirth : 

They shine and shine with unexhausted store, 

Thou art thy Saviour's Darling — seek no 

more ! " 



MONDAY. 

The Security of Faith. — Psalm xci. 



1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the 
Most High shall abide under the shadow of the 
Almighty. 

2 I will say of the Lord. He is my refuge and 
my fortress : my God ; in him will I (rust. 

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare 
of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and 



under his wings shalt thou trust : his truth shah 
he tJiy shield and buckler. 

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by 
night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in dark- 
ness ; nor for the destruction that wasteth at 
noonday. 

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten 



MONDAY, 



637 



thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not 
come nigh thee. 

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and 
see the reward of the wicked. 

9 Because thou hast made the LoRD, which 
is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habita- 
tion ; 

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither 
shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 

1 1 For he shall give his angels charge over 
tlice, to keep thee in all thy ways. 

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, 
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 



13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder : 
the young lion and the dragon shalt ihou tram- 
ple under feet. 

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, 
therefore will I deliver him : I will set him on 
high, because he hath known my name. 

15 He .shall call upon me, and I will answer 
him : I wi/l be with him in trouble ; I will de- 
liver him, and honour him. 

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and 
shew him my salvation. 



" In the whole collec1:ion there is not a mofe cheering Psalm ; its tone is 
elevated and sustained throughout, faith is at its best, and speaks nobly. A 
German physician was wont to speak of it as the best preservative in times 
of cholera, and in truth it is a heavenly medicine against plague and pest. 
He who can live in its spirit will be fearless, even if once again London 
should become a lazar-house, and the grave be gorged with carcases." — C. H. 
SpM'gcon. 

" We read of a stag that roamed about in the greatest security, by reason 
of its having a label on its neck, ' Totich me not, I belong to Ccesar ; ' thus the 
true servants of God are always safe, even among lions, bears, serpents, fire, 
water, thunder, and tempests ; for all creatures know and reverence the 
shadow of God." — Bellarmme. 

*' Under the Shadow of the Almighty." " This is an expression which im- 
plies great nearness. We must walk very close to a companion, if we would 
have his shadow fall on us. Can we imagine any expression more perfect 
in describing the constant presence of God with his chosen ones, than this — 

they shall ' abide under His shadow ?' There is a condition and a 

promise attached to it. The condition is, that ' we dwell in the secret place,' 
— the promise, that if we do so we ' shall abide under the shadow.' It is 
of importance to view it thus. For when we remember the blessing is a 
frojnised blessing — we are led to feel it is a gift — a thing therefore to be 
prayed for in faith, as well as sought for by God's appointed means. Ah ! 
the hopes that this awakens ! My wandering, wavering, unstable heart, that 
of itself cannot keep to one course two days together, is to seek its perse- 
verance from God, and not in its own strength. He will hold it to Him if 
it be but seeking for steadfastness. It is not we who cling to Him. It is 
He who keeps near to us." — Mary B. M. Duncan. 



Closet Promise. 

xxxii. 2. 



shadow of a great rock in a weary land. — Isa. 



638 



FORTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



O Shadow in a sultry land! 

We gather to Thy breast, 
Whose love, enfolding like the night. 

Brings quietude and rest, 



Glimpse of the fairer life to be. 
In foretaste here possessed. 

—C. M. Packard. 



TUESDAY. 

Two Historic Conversions. — Acts xvi. 9-15; 22-40.' 



9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night ; 
There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayecf 
him, saying. Come over into Macedonia, and 
help us. 

10 And after he had seen the vision, imme- 
diately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, 
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us 
for to preach the gospel unto them. 

11 Therefore loosing from Troas, we came 
with a straight course to Samothracia, and the 
next day to Neapolis; 

12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the 
chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a col- 
ony : and we were in that city abiding certain 
days. 

13 And on the sabbath we went out of the 
city by a river side, where prayer was wont to 
be made ; and we sat down, and spake unto the 
women which resorted thither. 

14 \ And a certain woman named Lydia, a 
seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which 
worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the 
Lord opened, that she attended unto the things 
which were spoken of Paul. 

15 And when she was baptized, and her 
household, she besought us, saying, If ye have 
judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come 
into my house, and abide there. And she 
constrained us. 



22 And the multitude rose up together against 
them ; and the magistrates rent off their clothes, 
and commanded to beat them. 

23 And when they had laid many stripes 
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging 
the jailer to keep them safely : 

24 Who, having received such a charge, 
thrust them into the inner prison, and made 
their feet fast in the stocks. 

25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, 
and sang praises unto God : and the prisoners 
heard them. 

26 And suddenly there was a great earth- 
quake, so that the foundations of the prison were 



shaken: and immediately all the doors were 
opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 

27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out 
of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, 
he drew out his sword, and would have killed 
himself, supposing that the prisoners had been 
fled. 

28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, 
Do thyself no harm : for we are all here. 

29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, 
and came trembling, and fell down before Paul 
and Silas, 

30 And brought them out, and said. Sirs, 
what must I do to be saved ? 

31 And they said. Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 

32 And they spake unto him the word of the 
Lord, and to all that were in his house. 

33 And he took them the same hour of the 
night, and washed their stripes ; and was bap- 
tized, he and all his, straightway. 

34 And when he had brought them into his 
house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, 
believing in God with all his house. 

35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent 
the Serjeants, saying. Let those men go. 

36 And the keeper of the prison told this 
saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to 
let you go : now therefore depart, and go in 
peace. 

37 But Paul said unto them. They have beat- 
en us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and 
have cast tis into prison ; and now do they 
thrust us out privily.'' nay verily; but let them 
come themselves and fetch us out. 

38 And the Serjeants told these words unto 
the magistrates: and they feared, when they 
heard that they were Romans. 

39 And they came and besought them, and 
brought them out, and desired them to depart 
out of the city. 

40 And they went out of the prison, and en- 
tered into the house of Lydia : and when they 
had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and 
departed. 



In these verses we have an account of the introduction of Christianity into 
Europe. Lydia was the first Christian convert in Europe. 

The description of her conversion is exquisitely beautiful : " Whoee heart 






ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS. 

Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way ? — 

Luke xxiv. 32. 

640 



TUESDAY. 641 

the Lord opened, that she attended to the things which were spoken of 
Paul." There appear in this case of conversion the agency of the Holy 
Spirit, and the instrumentality of gospel truth, the Lord opening the heart, 
not by the forces of Almighty Power, but by the gentle pressure of heavenly 
influence. 

" There is great diversity of operation in the work of the Spirit. To one 
the Spirit comes with the noiseless gentleness of the coming light of the 
morning. There is no extraordinary excitement. There is no convulsive 
agony. There is no pallor of deep despair. The light of the Spirit shines, 
and.it is received, and the soul enters into the bright sunshine of the divine 
favor. While, to another, the Spirit comes like a mighty rushing wind, in a 
very tornado of conviction. We see this diversity in this chapter. We 
learn that conversions may differ in form and surroundings, and yet be 
genuine. How different the conversions of Lydia and the jailor, in their 
experience and attendant circumstances, while the one was just as genuine 
as the other ! "—yohn Potts, D. D. 

In the two conversions recorded in this chapter we see the effect upon tlie 
families in leading those of each household to the knowledge of salvation. 

Closet Promise, — The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. — Psalm 



For a long time I felt myself to be a lost sheep, not knowing on whom to 
rely ; and now, with the deepest consciousness that I have at last attained 
rest, I exclaim, "The Lord is my Shepherd. What is there that can harm 
me ? " And as I look forward into the future, I exclaim, with David, " I 
shall not want." — Augustus Tholuck. 

WEDNESDAY. 

Comfort for God's People.— Isa. xl. 1-17. 

1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith \ vealed, and all flesh shall see it together : for 
your God. the mouth of the Lord hath spoken //. 

2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry 6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, Wliat 
unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the good- 
her iniquity is pardoned : for she hath received liness thereof is as the flower of the field : 

of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth ; 

3 1[ The voice of him that crieth in the wil- ' because tiie Spirit of the LoRDbloweth upon it : 
derness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make surely the people is grass. 

straight in the desert a highway for our God. 8 The grass withereih, the flower fadeth: 

4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every \ but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 
mountain and hill shall be made low; and the 9 If O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get 
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough thee up into the high mountain; O lerusalem, 
places plain : j that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with 

5 And the glory of the Lor 6 shall be re- ! 

35 



642 



FORTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



strength ; lift // up, be ndt afraid ; say unto the 
cities of Judah, Behold your God ! 

10 Behold, the Lord GoD will cume with 
strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him : 
behold, his reward is with him, and his work 
before him. 

11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; 
he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and 
carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead 
those that are with young. 

12 \ Who hath measured the waters in the 
hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with 
the span, and comprehended the dust of the 
earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains 
in scales, and the hills in a balance ? 



I 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, 
j or heins:; his counsellor hath taught him ? 

14 With whom took he counsel, and who in- 
structed him, and taught him in the path of 
judgment, and taught him knowledge, and 
shewed to him the way of understanding? 

15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a 
bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the 
balance : behold, he taketh up the isles as a 
very little thing. 

16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, 
nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offer- 
ing. 

17 All nations before him are as nothing; 
and they are counted to him less than nothing, 
and vanity. 



"The word of our God shall stand for ever" (verse 8). "Amidst all the 
changes on earth ; the revolutions of empires ; the vanishing of kingdoms, 
God is the same, and His promises are unfailing. We see the grass wither 
at the return of autumn, or in the drought ; we see the flower of the field 
lose its beauty and decay; we see man rejoicing in his vigor and his health, 
cut down in an instant ; we see cities fall, and kingdoms lose their power 
and vanish from among nations, but God changes not. He presides in all 
these revolutions, and sits calm and unmoved amidst all these changes. 
Not one of His promises shall fail ; and at the end of all the changes which 
human things shall undergo, Jehovah, the God of His people, will be the 
same." — Rev. Albert Barnes. 

What a beautiful description is verse 1 1 of the character of the Redeemer! 
One day the children of a family were learning the twenty-third Psalm, and 
the mother was telling them of the Good Shepherd, and how He takes care 
of the sheep and the little lambs. Impetuous Mamie, eager to speak her 
one thought, said rapidly : " He feeds them, and drives away the lions and 
the bears." " Yes," said Tiny thoughtfully, " and He carries them up hill." 
"He carries them 7ip hill! " The words come to our hearts with a strength 
and sweetness the little speaker did not dream of Often their music has 
thrilled through the tired soul like an echo of the angel's song. 

Closet Promise. — I, even I, am He that comforteth you. — Isa. li. 12, 



" I journey through a desert drear and wild. 
Yet is my heart by such sweet thoughts beguiled 
Of Him on whom I lean, my strength, my stay, 
I can forget the sorrows of the way. 
Christ comforts me. 



" Thoughts of Plis love, the Root of every grace. 
Which finds in this poor heart a dwelling-place. 
The sunshine of my soul, than day more bright, 
And my calm pillow of repose by night. 
Christ comforts me !" 



FORTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



643 



THURSDAY. 

Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting.— Matt. vi. i- 



1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before 
men, to be seen of them : otherwise ye lia\'e no 
reward of your Father which is in heaven. 

2 Therefore when thou doest iJtine ahiis, do 
not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypo- 
crites do in the synagogues and in the streets, 
that they may have glory of men. Veril)- I s.iy 
unto you. They have their reward. 

3 But when thou do^sl alms, let not thy left 
hand know what thy right hand doeth : 

4 That thine ahns may be in secret: and thy 
Father which seeth in secret himself shall re- 
ward thee openly. 

5 ^ And when liiou prayest, thou shall not 
be as the hypocrites arc : for ihey love to pray 
standing in the synagogues and in the corners 
of the streets, that they m.ay be seen of men. 
Verily I say unto you. They have their reward. 

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy 
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray 
to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Fa- 
ther which seeth in secret shall reward thee 
openly. 

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, 
as the heathen do: for they think that they 
shall be heard for their much speaking. 

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them : for 
your Father knoweth what things ye have need 
of, before ye ask him. 



9 After this manner therefore pray ye.: Our 
Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy 
name. 

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done 
in earth, as it is in heaven. 

11 Give us this day our daily bread. 

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive 
our debtors. 

13 And lead us not into temptation, but de- 
liver us from evil : For thine is the kingdom, 
.ind the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, 
your heavenly Father will also forgive you : 

1 5 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, 
neither will your Father forgive your tres- 
passes. 

16 \ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the 
hypocrites, of a sad countenance : for they dis- 
figure their faces, that they may appear unto men 
to fast. Verily I say unto you. They have 
their reward. 

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine 
head, and wash thy face ; 

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, 
but unto thy Father which is in secret : and thy 
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee 
openly. 



1. Almsgiving. " The poor man is, as it were, an altar; if we bring our 
alms and lay upon it, with such sacrifices God is well pleased." — Watson. 

"Alms should be like oil, which, though it swim aloft when it is fallen, 
yet makes no noise in the falling; not like water, that still sounds where it 
lights."— Hall. 

2. Prayer. " Never abandon the wholesome practice of saying your own 
private prayers night and morning. I have never abandoned it myself, and 
I know the comfort of it." — Charles Dickens to Ids so7i. 

It is possible even in private prayer to be ostentatious. Says Chrysos- 
tom : " If thou shouldest enter into thy closet, and, having shut thy door, 
shouldcst do it for display, the door will do thee no good." Again, there 
may be some who can have no closet. " Every man," says Jeremy Taylor, 
" can build a chapel in his heart." And the Rev. Dr. Whedon remarks : 
" Not only may we be in our closet, but our closet may be in us." 

3. Fasting. The Christian must learn to have dominion over his body. 
The object of fasting is to set us free from the power of the flesh and of 
the world. 



644 



FORTY-EIGHTH WEEX. 



Closet Promise. — Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities : for 
we know not what we should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself 
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. — 
Rom. viii. 26. 



The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed. 
If Thou the spirit give by which I pray; 
My unassisted heart is barren clay, 
That of its native self can nothing feed, — 



Unless Thou show to us Thine own true way, 

No man can find it ; Father, Thou must lead ! 

— Michael Angela. 



FRIDAY. 

Naaman the Leper. — 2 Kings v. 1-19. 



1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the 
king of Syria, was a great man with his master, 
and honourable, because by him the Lord had 
given deliverance unto Syria : he was also a 
mighty man in valour, but he tvas ?l leper. 

2 And the Syrians had gone out by com- 
panies, and had brought away captive out of 
the land of Israel a little maid ; and she waited 
on Naaman's wife. 

3 And she said unto her mistress. Would 
God my lord were with the prophet that is in 
Samaria ! for he would recover him of his 
leprosy. 

4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, 
Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land 
of Israel. 

5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and 
I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. 
And he departed, and took witn him ten talents 
of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and 
ten changes of raiment. 

6 And he brought the letter to the king of 
Israel, saying. Now when this letter is come 
unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naa- 
man my servant to thee, that thou mayest re- 
cover him of his leprosy. 

7 And it came to pass, when the king of Is- 
rael had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, - 
and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, 
that this man doth send unto me to recover a 
man of his leprosy ? Wherefore consider, I 
pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel 
against me. 

8 \ And it was so, when Elisha the man of 
God had heard that the king of Israel had rent 
his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, 
Wherefore hrst thou rent thy clothes? let him 
come now to me, and he shall know that there 
is a prophet in Israel. 

9 So Naaman came with his horses and with 
his chariot, and stood at the door of the house 
of Elisha. 

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, 
saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and 



thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou 
shalt be clean. 

1 1 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, 
and said. Behold, I thought. He will surely 
come out to me, and stand, and call on the 
name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand 
over the place, and recover the leper. 

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Da- 
mascus, better than all the waters of Israel? 
may I not wash in them, and be clean ? So he 
turned and went away in a rage. 

13 And his servants came near, and spake 
unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet 
had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou 
not have done it? how much rather then, when 
he saith to thee. Wash, and be clean ? 

14 Then went he down, and dipped himself 
seven times in Jordan, according to the saying 
of the man of God : and his flesh came again 
like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was 
clean. 

15 And he returned to the man of God, he 
and all his company, and came, and stood be- 
fore him : and he said, Behold, now I know that 
there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel : 
now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of 
thy servant. 

16 But he said, ^j the Lord liveth, before 
whom I stand, I will receive none. And he 
urged him to take it ; but he refused. 

17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, 
I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' 
burden of earth? for thy servant will hence- 
forth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice 
unto other gods, but unto the Lord. 

18 In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, 
that when my master goeth into the house of 
Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on 
my hand, and I bow myself in the house of 
Rimmon : when I bow down myself in the 
house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy ser- 
vant in this thing. 

19 And he said unto him. Go in peace. So 
he departed from him a little way. 



Leprosy represents sin, and the leper is the sinner ; and so we are all rep- 



FRIDAY. 645 

resented by Naaman. Naaman was cured by washing, as he was bidden, 
in Jordan — a type of the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin. As 
nothing would avail Naaman till he came and stood like a suppliant at the 
door of Elisha, so nothing shall avail us till, like humble suitors, we sit at 
the feet of Jesus Christ; and there is salvation in no other. 

" God's cure puts us all on one level. Naaman wanted to be treated like 
a great man that happened to be a leper ; Elisha treated him like a leper 
that happened to be a great man. Christianity brushes aside all the surface 
differences of men and goes in its treatment of them straight to the central 
likeness, the things which in all mankind are identical. In wisdom and in 
mercy Christianity deals with all men as sinners, needing chiefly to be healed 
of that disease." — A. Madarcn. 

God's cure wants nothing from you but to take it. Naamans in all gen- 
erations, who were eager to do some great thing, have stumbled and turned 
away from that Gospel which says, " It is finished." There were two ways 
of cleansing the leprosy ; the grand way that Naaman expected ; the very 
simple way which the prophet prescribed. Even so there are two ways of 
salvation : God's way and man's way. Man's way deals with what it takes 
to be great things — it is unavailing. God's way is very simple. His mes- 
sages are very short and very few and simple. He says only, " Wash, and 
be clean ; " " Believe and obey ; " " Believe and /zW." 

Closet Promise. — Who forgiveth all thine iniquities ; who healeth all 
thy diseases. — Psalm ciii. 3. 



I know it is my sin which locks Thine ears 

And binds Thy hands, 
Outcrying my requests, drowning my tears, 
Or else the chilliness of my faint demands. 

But as cold hands are angry with the fire, 

And mend it still, 
So do I lay the want of my desire 

Not on my sins and coldness, but thy will. 



I Yet hear, O God, only for His blood's sake 
I Which pleads for me ; 

For though sins plead too, yet like stones they 
make 
His blood's sweet current much more loud 
to be. 

— George Herbert. 



SATURDAY. 

An Invitation to Praise.— Psalm cxlvii. 



1 Praise ye the Lord : for zV /j good to sing ] 5 Great zj our Lord, and of great power : his 
praise;; unto our God ; for it is pleasant ; and 1 understanding is infinite. 

praise is comely. 1 6 The Lord lifteth up the meek : he castetl 

2 The Lord doth build up Jerusalem -.he 



gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. 

3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth 
up their wounds. 

4 He telleth the numV-er of the stars : he 
calleth them all by their names. 



the wicked down to the ground. 

7 Sing unto the Lord wilh thanksgiving ; sing 
praise upon the harp unto our God : 

8 Wlio covereth the heaven with cloud-;, who 
prepareth rain for the earth, who maket.h grass 
to grow upon the mountains. 



646 



FORTY-EIGHTH WEEK. 



9 He givelh to the beast his food, and to the 
young ravens which cry. 

10 He delighteth not in the strength of the 
horse : he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a 
man. 

11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that 
fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. 

12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy 
God, O Zion. 

13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy 
gates; he hath blessed thy children within 
thee. 

14 He maketh peace in thy borders, and fill- 
eth thee with the finest of the wheat. 



15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon 
earth : his word runneth very swiftly. 

16 He giveth snow like wool : he scattereth 
the hoar frost like ashes. 

17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels; 
who can stand before his cold ? 

18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth 
them : he causeth his wind to blow, and the 
waters flow. 

19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, liis 
statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 

20 He hath not dealt so with any nation : and 
as for his judgments, they have not known 
them. Praise ye the Lord. 



In this Psalm the God of Israel is set forth in His peculiarity of glory as 
caring for the sorrowing, the insignificant, and forgotten. 

" The song appears to divide itself into three portions. From i to 6, Jehovah 
is extolled for building up Zion, and blessing His mourners; from 7 to 11, 
the like praise is given because of His provision for the lowly, and His 
pleasure in them ; and then, from 12 to 20, He is magnified for His work on 
behalf of His people, and the power of His word in nature and in grace. 
Let it be studied with joyful gratitude." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

" 'It is good to smg praises unto our God! Singing is necessarily included 
and recognized in the praise of Psalms. That the joyful should sing is as 
natural as that the afflicted should pray — rather more natural. Song as the 
expression of cheerfulness is something universal in human nature ; there 
were always, both in Israel and among all other nations, songs of joy. Hence 
it is constantly mentioned in the prophets, by whom joyous singing is used 
as a frequent figure, even as they threaten that God will take away the song 
of the bridegroom and the bride, and so forth. The singing of men is in 
itself good and noble. The same God who furnished the birds of heaven 
with the notes wherein they unconsciously pfaise the Creator, gave to man 
the power to sing. We all know how highly Luther, for example, estimated 
the gift and the art of song. Let him to whom it is granted rejoice therein; 
let him who lacks it seek, if possible, to excite it ; for it is a good gift of 
the Creator." — Rudolf Stier. 

Closet Promise. — Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one 
of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very 
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more 
value than many sparrows. — Matt. x. 29-31. 



There is nothing so small but that we may honor God by asking His 
guidance of it, or insult Him by taking it into our own hands ; and what is 
true of the Deity is equally true of His revelation. We use it most reverently 



SATURDAY. 647 

when most habitually : our insolence is in ever acting without reference to 
it ; our true honoring of it is in its universal application. — Ruskin. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul. — 
Prov. xiii. 25. 

Weekly Proverb. — Fear God, and your Enemies will fear you. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— RUSKIN'S FAVORITE CHAPTERS. 

Sunday. — The Song of Moses. — Ex. xv. 

Monday. — The Ten Commandments. — Ex. xx. 

Tuesday. — David Laments Saul and Jonathan. — 2 Sam. i. 

Wednesday. — David's Confidence. — Psalm xxiii. 

Thursday. — Forgiven Sin. — Psalm xxxii. 

Friday. — The Frailty of Human Life. — Psalm xc._ 

Saturday. — The Safety of the Godly. — Psalm xci. 



LOVELINESS. 



Once I knew a little girl, 

Very plain ; 
You might try her hair to curl. 

All in vain ; 
On her cheek no tint of rose 
Paled and blushed, or sought repose ; 

She was plain. 

But the thoughts that through her brain 

Came and went. 
As a recompense for pain. 

Angels sent ; 
So full many a beauteous thing. 
In her young soul blossoming. 

Gave content. 



Every thought was full of grace, 

Pure and true ; 
And in time the homely face 

Lovelier grew ; 
With a heavenly radiance bright, 
From the soul's reflected light 

Shining through. 

So I tell you, little child. 

Plain or poor, 
If your thoughts are undefiled, 

You are sure 
Of the loveliness of worth — 
And this beauty not on earth 

Will endure. 

—Selected. 



He careth for you. — i Pet. v. 7. 

Dear children, do you ever stop to think how good God is to us ? Every 
blessing we enjoy comes from His all-bountiful hand. One winter, a poor 
little orphan-boy of six or eight years begged a lady to allow him to clean 
away the snow from her steps. " Do you get much to do, my little boy ? " 
said the lady. " Sometimes I do," said the boy ; " but often I get very 
little." " And are you never afraid that you will not get enough to live on ? " 
The child looked perplexed, and said, " Don't you suppose God can take 
care of a little boy just as well as He can of a man?" Certainly, noble 



G48 THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

little fellow, God is as careful of the smallest child, as He is of the oldest or 
the greatest man. Only trust Him, and obey Him, and the helpless and 
friendless will have no trouble to get on in life. There is a beautiful incident 
in history that shows how God cares for His people. In the days of the 
Reformation, Brentius, of Wurtemberg, being pursued by persecuting 
soldiers, escaped into a hay-loft, and hid himself under the hay. Tl\e soldiers 
could not find him. Every day, for fourteen days, a hen laid an egg in the" 
hay, which was his only food. Then the supply ceased, which he took as 
an intimation of Providence that it would now be safe to come out. He 
found that the soldiers had just left the town; and he was able to seek a 
place of safety. 



FORTY-NINTH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — Seest thou a man diligent in his business ? he shall stand before kings.- 
Prov. xxii. 29. 



Ah ! blest at last whose lives be true ] 
And sad those lost in earthly rust ! 



Those " builded better than they knew," 
And these find but decay and dust. 

— Earl Marble. 



In this theatre of man's life, it is reserved only for God and angels to 
be lookers-on. — Lord Bacon. 

God calls men when they are busy ; Satan when he finds them idle. If 
Satan find any man idle he will be sure to find him a job. — Selected. 

To continual watchfulness and prayer ought to be added continual 
employment. For grace flies a vacuum as well as nature, and the devil fills 
whatever God does not fill. — Wesley. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Gideon's Army. — Judges vii. 2-8; 19-23. 



2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The peo- 
ple that are with thee are too many for me to 
give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel 
vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own 
hand hath saved me. 

3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears 
of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and 
afraid, let him return and depart early from 
mount Gilead. And there returned of the peo- 
ple twenty and two thousand ; and there re- 
mained ten thousand. 

4 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The peo- 
ple are yet too many ; bring them down upto 
the water, and I will try them for thee there ; 
and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, 
This shall go with thee, the same shall go with 
thee ; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This 
shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 

5 So he brought down the people unto the 
water; and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every 
one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as 
a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; 
likewise every one that boweth down upon his | 
knees to drink. , 

6 And the number of them that lapped, put- 
ting their hand to their mouth, were three hun- 
dred men : but all the rest of the people bowed j 
down upon their knees to drink water. 

7 And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the ! 



three hundred men that lapped will I save you, 
and deliver the Midianites in 10 thine hand : and 
let all the oilier people go every man unto his 
place. 

8 So the people took victuals in their hand, 
and their trumpets : and he sent all the rest of 
Israel every man unto his tent, and retained 
those three hundred men : and the host of 
Midian was beneath him in the valley. 



19 T[ So Gideon, and the hundred men that 
were with him, came unto the outside of the 
camp in the beginning of the middle watch ; 
and they had but newly set ihe watch : and 
they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers 
that were in their hands. 

20 And the three companies blew the trump- 
ets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps 
in their left hands, and the trumpets in their 
right hands to blow willial : and lliey cried. The 
sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. 

21 And they stood every man in his place 
round about the camp : and all the host ran, and 
cried, and fled. 

22 And the three hundred blew the trump- 
els, and the Lord set every man's sword against 
his fellow, even throughout all the host: and 

(649) 



650 



FORTY-NINTH WEEK. 



the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, and to I selves logether out of Naphtali, and out of 
the border of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath. Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued 

23 And the men of Israel gathered them- | after the Midianites. 

This is the moral of Gideon's story: that God wants to rule over us only 
that He may save us ; or, to put it in another way, God wants us to know 
that it is He who has saved us, and that he will go on serving and saving us 
to the end. The lesson taught by the three hundred is the necessity of self- 
control. 

"The battle was to be won against overwhelming numbers. The Lord 
needed men in whom spirit should be dominant, who could control the flesh 
in habitual and iron control. Faint with their long march, the great body 
of men flung themselves on the ground, forgetful alike of toil and pain, and 
glorious enterprise, in the cool draught which for the moment was exquisite 
delight. Three hundred men stood up above the prostrate throng. They 
stooped for a moment and lapped the few needful drops from the hollow of 
their hands ; and then stood prompt to pursue their way. The eye of God 
marked them — ' Set these men apart ; these three hundred are strong 
enough for the stress of the battle, and great enough to wear the honors of 
the victory." — J . Baldivin Brown. 

Our counsel is, hold yourselves well in hand. Sip the water or the wine 
of life, like the three hundred. Do not fling yourselves on your knees to it, 
and drink as if your only business in life was to get your fill of pleasure or 
of gain. Keep your knee for God alone. Kneel to God, and it will cure 
you of all other kneeling. 

Closet Promise. — Ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight ; for 
the Lord will go before you ; and the God of Israel will be your rearward. 
— Isa. lii. 12. 



In whatever you are called upon to do, endeavor to maintain a calm, col- 
lected, and prayerful state of mind. Self-recollection is of great importance. 
"It is good for a man to quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." He 
who is in what may be called a spiritual hurry, or rather who runs without 
having evidence of being spiritually sent, makes haste to no purpose. — T. C. 
Upham, 

MONDAY. 

Christ's Prayer for His People. — John xvti. 



I These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his 
eyes to heaven, and said. Father, the hour is 
come ; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may 
glorify thee : 



2 As thou hast given him power over all 
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many 
as thou hast given him. 

3 And this is life eternal, that they might 



MONDAY 



651 



know ihee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, 
whom thou hast sent. 

4 I have glorified thee on the earth : I have 
finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 

5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with 
thine own self with the glory which I had with 
thee before the world was. 

6 I have manifested thy name unto the men 
which thou gavest me out of the world : thine 
they were, and thou gavest them me ; and they 
have kept thy word. 

7 Now they have known that all things what- 
soever thou hast given me are of thee. 

8 For I have given unto them the words 
which thou gavest me ; and they have received 
them, and have known surely that I came out 
from thee, and they have believed that thou 
didst send me. 

9 I pray for them : I pray not for the world, 
but for them which thou hast given me ; for they 
are thine. 

10 And all mine are thine, and thine are 
mine ; and I am glorified in them. 

1 1 And now I am no more in the world, but 
these are in the world, and I come to thee. 
Holy F'ather, keep through thine own name 
those whom thou hast given me, that they may 
be one, as we are. 

12 While I was with them in the world, I kept 
them in thy name : those that thou gavest me I 
have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son 
of perdition ; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 

13 And now come I to thee; and these things 
I speak in the world, that they might have my 
joy fulfilled in themselves. 

14 I have given them thy word ; and the 
world hath hated them, because they are not of 
the world, even as I am not of the world. 



15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them 
out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep 
them from the evil. 

16 They ai-e not of the world, even as I am 
not of the world. 

17 Sanctify them through thy truth : thy word 
is truth. 

18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even 
so have I also sent them into the world. 

19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that 
they also might be sanctified through the truth. 

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for 
them also which shall believe on me through 
their word ; 

21 That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, 
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be 
one in us : that the world may believe that thou 
hast sent me. 

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I 
have given them ; that they may be one, even 
as we are one : 

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may 
be made perfect in one ; and that the world may 
know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved 
them, as tliou hast loved me. 

24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou 
hast given me, be with me where I am ; that 
they may behold my glory, which thou hast given 
me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation 
of the world. 

25 O righteous Father, the world hath not 
known thee : but I have known thee, and these 
have known that thou hast sent me. 

26 And I have declared unto them thy name, 
and will declare it ; that the love wherewith 
thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in 
them. 



Our Lord declares that His faithful followers " are not of the ivorldr The 
apostles also with one voice guard us against cultivating the friendship of 
the world ; and teach us to come out from among them, and to live as a 
distinct " peculiar people," " shining among them as lights in the dark 
place." 

But while they are not of the world, they are yet in it. And our Saviour 
prays not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should 
be kept from the evil. 

" Peter was ready (John xiii. 37) to follow his Lord out of the world. 
Wearied Christians often would sigh to depart and be with Christ. But 
that aspiration must be checked within the most reverent limits. What 
could the world's great carcass do if the salt should all depart? What but 
suffer the fate of Sodom for want of ten righteous men ? The good men 
hated by the world are the world's preservers." — D. D. Whedon. 

When once we trust in God, He takes charge of our souls, that we may 



652 



forty-:ninth wbek, 



trust him to the end. When God has put His children 'in the arms of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, that He may carry them across this perilous voyage of 
life, and land them safe in heaven ; and when Christ has promised to present 
them pure and spotless before the throne, do you suppose He, under whose 
feet is all power, will fail to fulfil His promise, and to perform what He has 
undertaken? If there were nothing but ourselves we might fear ; but as 
long as we have the amplitude, the fidelity, the tenderness, and the love of 
Christ, we have that which is more than a match for our sin. 

Closet Promise. — The Father Himself loveth you, because ye have 
loved Me. — John xvi. 27. 



' I cannot always trace the way 
Where thou, Almighty One, dost move. 
But I can always, always say. 
That God is love. 



' Yes, God is love ; a thought like this 

Can every gloomy thought remove. 

And turn all tears, all woes, to bliss, 

For God is love," 



TUESDAY. 

The Blessedness of Religion. — Prov. iii. 



1 My son, forget not my law ; but let thine 
heart keep my commandments : 

2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, 
shall they add to thee. 

3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee : 
bind them about thy neck ; write them upon 
the table of thine heart : 

4 So shalt thou find favour and good under-, 
standing in the sight of God and man. 

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; 
and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he 
shall direct thy paths. 

7 Be not wise in thine own eyes : fear the 
Lord, and depart from evil. 

8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow 
to thy bones. 

9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and 
with the firstfruits of all thine increase ; 

10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, 
and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 

1 1 ^ My son, despise not the chastening of 
the Lord; neith r be weary of his correction : 

12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; 
even as a father the son in -whom he delighteth. 

13 Happy is the man that ifindeth wisdom, 
and the man that getteth understanding : 

14 For the merchandise of it is better than 
the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof 
than fine gold. 

15 She is more precious than rubies: and all 
the things thou canst desire are not to be com- 
pared unto her. 

16 Length of days is in her right hand ; and 
in her left hand riches and honour. 



17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and 
all her paths are peace. 

18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold 
upon her ; and happy is every one that retaineth 
her. 

19 The Lord by wisdom hath founded the 
earth ; by understanding hath he established 
the heavens. 

20 By his knowledge the depths are broken 
up, and the clouds drop down the dew. 

21 \ My son, let not them depart from thine 
eyes : keep sound wisdom and discretion : 

22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and 
grace to thy neck. 

23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, 
and thy foot shall not stumble. 

24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be 
afraid : yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep 
shall be sweet. 

25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of 
the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. 

26 For the Lord shall be thy confidence, 
and shall keep thy foot from being taken. 

27 Withhold not good from them to whom 
it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand 
to do it. 

28 Say not unto thy neighbour. Go, and come 
again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou 
hast it by thee. 

29 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, 
seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. 

30 Strive not with a man without cause, if 
he have done thee no harm. 

31 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose 
none of his ways. 



TUESDAY. 653 

32 P'or the fruward is abomination to the : 34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he 

Lord : but his secret is with the righteous. j giveth grace unto the lowly. 

T,^ The curse of the Lord is in llie house of [ 35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame 

the wicked : but he blesseth the habitation of shall be the promotion of fools. 

the just. I 

"In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" — 
verse 6). God reveals His will by His providence, and through His ad- 
ministration of events. But there is no such thing as interpreting the will 
of God unless we have in us the spirit of children. What is the spirit of 
children ? Love — confidence. God locks up His best blessings, but gives 
to every man a key wherewith to open the lock. Love is that key. Pride 
or vanity could not open that door. But if a man have the spirit of filial 
love; if he say, " My Father knows me, and my circumstances ; I love Him, 
and His will is my will ; " if he look at events with a child-like, loving 
spirit, to him will be given the key to interpret the revelation of God's will. 

" Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace " — (verse 
17). "Religion, regarded as a theory of a perfect state, is right in pro- 
nouncing itself a way of pleasantness and a path of peace. If a man could 
but walk perfectly in the way of religion, he would be perfectly happy. 
The way is pleasant, and all the paths are peace ; and yet along that pleas- 
ant way there are groans and sorrows innumerable ; and along that way of 
peace there is struggle, turmoil, combat, and confusion. But the divine plan 
and intent, the ultimate state, is a state of supreme blessedness. The nature 
of man is one which, when brought fully up to its divine ideal, will produce 
constant happiness." — H. W. Bcecher. 

Closet Promise. — When thou lie-st down, thou shalt not be afraid : yea, 
thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. — Prov. iii. 24. 

That is a tender scene wherein two little boys are described as lying to- 
gether at night, when Willie, the eldest, who was only six years of age, 
awoke very thirsty. Being told that he could get up and help himself to 
some water, he began to cry, saying that he was afraid. Then his little 
brother, two years younger, spoke encouragingly to him, saying : " God is 
wight here, Willie ; God is wight here. You needn't be afraid, WiUie." 

So Willie got up, lielped himself to some water, and went back to his bed 
.safe from harm, soon to be asleep again with his thoughtful brother. Thus 
it may be all dark with us, even dark as midnight, and we may shrink from 
the terrible darkness of our night of adversity ; but the thought that God is 
right here with us, in the darkest place of our bitterest experience, may 



G54 



FORTY -NINTH WEEK. 



enable us to arise and perform our 
that all is well. 



ife-work with the comforting conviction 



WEDNESDAY. 

Devout Confidence in God. — Psalm xxvii. 



1 The Lord is my light and my salvation ; 
whom shall I fear? the Lord w the strength 
of my life ; of whom shall I be afraid ? 

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and 
my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they 
stumbled and fell. 

3 Though a host should encamp against me, 
my heart shall not fear : though war should 
rise against me, in this will I be confident. 

4 One t/ii/?g have I desired of the Lord, that 
will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house 
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold 
the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his 
temple. 

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide 
me in his pavilion : in the secret of his taber- 
nacle shall he hide me ; he shall set me up upon 
a rock. 

6 And now shall mine head be lifted up 
above mine enemies round about me : therefore 
will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy ; 
I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the 
Lord. 



7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice : 
have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 

8 When tkou saidst, Seek ye my face ; my 
heart said unto thee. Thy face, Lord, will I 
seek. 

9 Hide not thy face far from me ; put not 
thy servant away in anger : thou hast been my 
help ; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God 
of my salvation. 

10 When my father and my mother forsake 
me, then the Lord will take me up. 

j 1 1 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me 
I in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 
I 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of 
] mine enemies : for false witnesses are risen up 
against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 

13 / had fainted, unless 1 had believed to 
see the goodness of the Lord in the land of 
the living. 

14 Wait on the Lord : be of good courage, 
and he shall strengthen thine heart : wait, I say, 
on the Lord. 



This Psalm is a song of cheerful hope, well fitted for those in trial who 
have learned to lean upon the Almighty arm. It may with profit be " read 
in a threefold way, as the language of David, of the Church, and of the Lord 
Jesus. The plentitude of Scripture will thus appear the more wonderful." 
The last two verses of this wonderful song of Confidence constitute an 
admonition. The real meaning of verse 1 3 is — " Oil had I not believed, how 
miserable, how abject I should now be 1 " This intimates very strongly the 
duty of trusting in the Lord. 

" Faintness of heart is a common infirmity ; even he who slew Goliath 
was subject to its attacks. Faith puts its bottle of cordial to the lip of the 
soul, and so prevents fainting. Hope is heaven's balm for present sorrow." 
C. H. Spiirgeo7i. 

" Wait on the Lord." " Wait at His door with prayer ; wait at His foot 
with humility ; wait at His table with service; wait at His window with 
expectancy. . . . David, in the words ^I say', sets his own private seal to the 
words which, as an inspired man, he had been moved to write. It is his 
testimony as well as the command of God, and indeed he who writes these 
scanty notes has himself found it so sweet, so reviving, so profitable to 
draw near to God, that even on his own account he also feels bound to 
write, ' Wait, I say, on the Lord' " 



WEDNESDAY. 



(■;55 



Closet Promise. — The Lord God is a sun and shield ; the Lord will 
give grace and glory : no good thing will He withhold from them that walk 
uprightly. — Psalm Ixxxiv. 1 1. 

The devout mind is wont to connect God with everything. Not that He 
is directly the author of every event, but His sovereign sway is recognized, 
controlling and overruling, so that " all thifigs" no matter what, " work to- 
gether for good." Even things that are strangely adverse, seemingly crush- 
ing, are transformed into chariots in which saints ride gloriously, their 
Beloved Himself being by their side. Consider then all the minutiae of Hfe 
in His hands, and your brow will be crowned with light, and your heart 
bound with joy at every step. 

THURSDAY. 

The True God. — ^Jer. x. 1-16. 



1 Hear ye the word which the Lord speak- 
eth unto you, O house of Israel; 

2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way 
of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the 
signs of heaven ; for the heatlien are dismayed 
at them. 

3 For the customs of the people are vain : for 
one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of 
the hands of the workman, with the axe. 

4 They deck it with silver and with gold ; 
they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that 
it move not. 

5 They are upright as the palm tree, but 
speak not : they must needs be borne, because 
they cannot go. Be not afraid of them ; for they 
cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do 
good. 

6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, 
O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great 
in mi<^ht. 

7 Who would not fear thee, O King of na- 
tions? for to thee doth it appertain : forasmuch 
as among all the wise jiieti of the nations, and 
in all their kingdoms, here is none like unto 
thee. 

8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish : 
the stock is a doctrine of vanities. 

9 Silver spread into plates is brought from 
Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the 
workman, and of the hands of the founder : blue 



and purple is their clothing: they are all the 
work of cunning me7i. 

10 But the Lord is the true God, he is the 
living God, and an everlasting King: at his 
wrath tlie earth shall tremble, and the nations 
shall not be able to abide his indignation. 

I r Thus shall ye say unto them. The gods 
that have not made the heavens and the earth, 
even they shall perish from the earth, and from 
under these heavens. 

12 He hath made the earth by his power, he 
hath established the world by his wisdom, and 
hath stretched out the heavens by his discre- 
tion. 

13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a 
multitude of waters in the heavens, and he 
causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of 
the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and 
bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 

14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge; 
every founder is confounded by the graven im- 
age : for his molten image is falsehood, and 
there is no breath in them. 

15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: 
in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 

16 The portion of Jacob is not like them : for 
he is the former of all things; and Israel is the 
rod of his inheritance : The Lord of hosts is his 
name. 



" Christianity allows no idols. As Dagon fell before the ark of the cove- 
nant, so have all the gods of the Pantheon fallen before the power of the 
cross. So shall they continue to fall, till the kingdoms of this world are 
reclaimed to Christ." 



656 



FORTY-NINTH WEEK. 



God is our heritage. " What can we wish for in an heritage that is not 
to be found in God ? Would we have large possessions ? He is immen- 
sity. Would we have a sure estate ? He is immutability. Would we have 
a term of long continuance? He is eternity itself" — Arrowsmith. 

Jehovah is the living God. He is the great I Am, to whom one day is as 
a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. He is " the high and 
lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy." Let us bow in 
reverence before Him. " Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all 
generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst 
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting Thou 
art God." 

Closet Promise. — For we are His workmanship, created in Christ 
Jesus unto good works. — Eph. ii. lo. 



We are the mariners, and God the sea ; 
And though we make false reckonings, and run 
Wide of a righteous course, and are undone. 

Out of His deeps cf love we cannot be. 



For by those heavy strokes we misname ill, 
Through the fierce fire of sin, through temper- 
ing doubt, 
Our natures more and more are beaten out 
To perfecter reflections of His will. 

— Alice Gary. 



FRIDAY. 

The Seven Chosen. — Acts vi. 



1 And in those days, when the number of 
the disciples was multiplied, there arose a mur- 
muring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, 
because their widows were neglected in the 
daily ministration. 

2 Then the twelve called the multitude of 
the disciples unto them, and said, It is not rea- 
son that we should leave the word of God, and 
serve tables. 

3.Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among 
you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy 
Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over 
this business. 

4 But we will give ourselves continually to 
prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 

5 And the saying pleased the whole multi- 
tude : and they chose Stephen, a man full of 
faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and 
Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Par- 
menas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch ; 

6 Whom they set before the aposlles : and 
when they had prayed, they laid their hands on 
them. 

7 And the word of God increased ; and the 
number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem 
greatly ; and a great company of the priests 
were obedient to the faith. 



8 \ And Stephen, full of faith and power, 
did great wonders and- miracles among the 
people. 

9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, 
which is called the synagogue of the Liber- 
tines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and 
of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with 
Stephen. 

10 And they were not able to resist the wis- 
dom and the spirit by which he spake. 

1 1 Then ihey suborned men, which said. We 
have heard him speak blasphemous words 
against Moses, and against God. 

12 And they stirred up the people, and the 
elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, 
and caught him, and brought hi>n to the coun- 
cil, 

13 And set up false witnesses, which said. 
This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous 
words against this holy pl:ice, and the law : 

14 For we have heard him say, that this 
Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and 
shall change the customs which Moses deliv- 
ered us. 

1 5 And all that sat in the council, looking 
steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been 
the face of an angel. 



FRIDAY. 657 

It was the duty of the Church then, as it is the duty of the Church now, 
to look after the temporal as well as the spiritual needs of her members. 
In this the Saviour has left her an example, and to all His disciples comes 
the command to " bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ." 
Hence these seven men were appointed to be " over this business." 

" There is a deep-seated significance in the qualities by which these offi- 
cers were to be distinguished. They must be men of ' good report ' — must 
have an established reputation among their fellows for consistency and in- 
tegrity; they must be 'full of the Spirit' — men entirely consecrated to 
God, living to His glory and filled with His Spirit ; and they must be men 
of ' wisdom ' — men of practical sagacity and business tact, who could weigh 
the merits of cases and act with judgment and equity. This is a high 
standard of qualification. Let it be remembered that the office they were 
to undertake was secular — to ' serve tables ' — and one that was boldly 
marked out by the apostles as vastly inferior to their own. With what 
deep meaning, then, are these words charged, and how vivid the witness 
which they bear to sanctity and responsibility of atiy position in the 
Church ! The honor and prosperity of any Church depends, to a great ex- 
tent, upon the purity and fitness of its officers. Here are the qualities 
required." — R. R. Meredith. 

Closet Promise. — Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the 
Lord. — Hosea vi. 3. 

It is by doing our duty that we learn to do it. So long as men dispute 
whether or no a thing is their duty, they get never the nearer. Let them 
set ever so weakly about doing it, and the face of things alters. They find 
in themselves strength which they knew not of Difficulties which it 
seemed to them they could not get over, disappear. For He accompanies 
it with the influences of His blessed Spirit, and each performance opens our 
minds for larger influxes of His grace, and places them in communion with 
Him. — E. B. Pusey. 

SATURDAY. 

The First Christian Martyr. — Acts vii. 54-60. 



54 ^When they heard these things, they 
were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him 
with their teeth. 

55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, 
looked up steadfastly inlo heaven, and saw the 
glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right 
hand of God, 

56 And said. Behold, I see the heavens 

36 



opened, and the Son of man standing on the 
right hand of God. 

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, 
and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with 
one accord, 

58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned 
him : and the witnesses laid down their clothes 
at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 



658 FORTY-NINTH WEEK. 

59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon I loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their 
God, and saying. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. charge. And when he had said this, he fell 

60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a | asleep. 

Stephen had been seized and dragged before the Sanhedrin. " Suborned 
men " testified against him. Far from being dismayed in the presence of so 
much antagonistic power, so full was he of holy joy and comfort that they 
"saw his face as it had been the face of an angel" (vi. 11-15). Having 
heard their accusation, the high priest appealed to him, "Are these things 
so ? " In reply Stephen entered upon his defence, which is given at length 
(verses 2-53). The key to the whole of this defence is contained in these 
words, "As your fathers did, so do ye" (verse 51). 

The effect was decisive. " They were cut to the heart, and they gnashed 
on him with their teeth." See the face of the protomartyr shining like the 
face of an angel, and his enemies " gnashing on him with their teeth." 
Stephen " looked steadfastly into heaven," committed his ca.se there, and be- 
came mighty through God. " One whose eye is fixed on heaven can trample 
equally under foot the smiles and the frowns of the world." 

And now, under a cruel shower of stones, the brave and faithful Stephen 
is dying. Look at him in his death. 

1. His Prayer. He died " calling upon the Lord." He needed prayer to 
the end, because to the end he needed Divine support. 

2. His Faith. " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Christ was recognized 
by the dying martyr, and into His hands he confidently commended his 
spirit. 

3. His Love. "And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, 
lay not this sin to their charge." There is no room for resentment in a soul 
ripe for heaven. The martyr met his doom upon his knees. He sought 
forgiveness in his dying hour, but not for himself That had been at- 
tended to before. Following the example of his Divine Master, he prayed 
for^his murderers. 

4. His Peace. "And when he had said this he fell asleep." It was a hard 
bed, but " he fell asleep ! " And so die the servants of the Redeemer; for 
" so He giveth His beloved sleep." 

Closet Promise. — I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy : for Thou 
hast considered my trouble ; Thou hast known my soul in adversities. — 
Psalm xxxi. 7. 

The Lord will neither overdo nor underdo ; every one shall have his load 
and no more — no more than they can bear, and no less than their need re- 
quires. The Lord delights not in His children's tears ; He doth not af- 



SATURDAY. 



659 



flict willingly, nor grieve the children of men ; but yet He would rather 
they cry than perish. Wonder not, Christians, that your tender Lord puts 
you in pain, and that your pains are so sharp and so many : " Your heavenly 
Father knoweth that you have need of all these things." It is a mercy that 
He will chastise; you may put your corrections among your mercies. His 
breakings of you are His blessings, His woundings are your cures; and by 
your own, as by your Lord's, stripes you are healed. And when you shall 
review and read over all His darker providences, and behold the wisdom 
and tenderness which is attempted with His severities, evidenced in His lay- 
ing on so much, and yet no more than was needful, you will then write 
down with the psalmist : " Thou in very faithfulness hast afflicted me." — 
Richard Alleine. 

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, 
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feed- 
eth them. Are ye not much better than they ? — Matt. vi. 26. 

Weekly Proverb.— Good sense is a thing all need, few have, and none 
think they want. — Poor Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— RUSKIN'S FAVORITE CHAPTERS. 

Stinday. — An Exhortation to Bless God. — Psalm ciii. 
Monday. — The Benefits of Godliness. — Psalm cxii. 
Tuesday. — God's All-seeing Providence. — Psalm cxxxix. 
Wednesday. — An Exhortation to Obedience. — Prov. iii.. 
Thursday. — Virtues and their Contrary Vices. — Prov. xii. 
Friday. — The Fast which God Accepts. — Isa. Iviii. 
Saturday. — Sermon on the Mount. — Matt. v. 

STRANGE CONDUCT. 



I know a little fellow, 

You'd deem almost perfection, 
Until some chance occurrence 

Should lead to his detection. 

He'll do any one a favor, 
Run on an errand fleetly; 

So willing and obliging, 

He wins your love completely. 

But let his busy father 

Desire some slight assistance. 
He'll answer with impatience, 

Or even with resistance. 



Full often have I known him 
With frowns do for his mother 

What he, a moment later. 
With smiles did for another. 

The little girls, his playmates. 
Consider him "just splendid; " 

Alas ! by his own sister 

He could not be commended. 

How like you such behavior. 
Bright boys and merry misses ? 

And, tell me, ^\Ayoii ever 

See conduct strange as this is? 

—Rev. P. B. Strong. 



660 FORTY- NINTH WEEK. 

God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had 
in reverence of all them that are about Him. — Psalm Ixxxix. 7. 

I suppose my little readers all go to church. Well, now, you must all 
learn to reverence God's house. If you stand in the vestibule and laugh 
and make a loud noise, or play on the stairs and slide down the rail of the 
staircase, that is not reverence. If you trifle, or play, or look around, when 
those about you are praying to God, that is not reverence. No, that is 
mocking God, and that is a dreadful thing to do. Then you must also 
reverence His holy name. I remember reading about a good man once, 
who made it a rule always to pause and look up before he spoke the name 
of — God. The Mohammedans, when they find a slip of paper they cannot 
read, put it aside, for fear the name of God is on it. But we often hear 
children, and men and women, too, speak of God's holy name as lightly as 
they would speak of their own name or the name of a fellow-creature. Oh ! 
dear children, let us reverence God. When we read His name, in the Bible 
or elsewhere, or when we use it in singing or prayer, we should think how 
great and glorious He is, and use it with reverence. 



THE BROTHERS. 

What a beautiful picture is this ! From it let us learn some very impor- 
tant lessons : 

First, brothers and sisters ought to play happily together. They should 
not quarrel or get angry with each other. Let your little brother or sister 
have your whip, or doll, or book. Don't be selfish. Selfishness makes 
both big and little people very unhappy. Always be kind to the brother or 
sister that is smaller than you. If you are looking at a picture book, and 
he or she wants to see it, lift the little one up, and turn the leaves carefully, 
so all can see the pictures. 

Second, brothers and sisters ought to share with each other. If you have 
some nice candy or fruit given you, let them have a part. Don't keep the 
best share for yourself Divide equally. If your father and mother are 
going to the city, or into the country, and can't take all the children, be 
willing to stay at home and let some of the rest go this time. Wait for 
your turn, which will come next time. 

Third, brothers and sisters ought to help each other. It may be you are 
old enough to have some kind of work to do each day. If so, help each 
other. When company comes don't run off alone to play with them and 
leave little sister to finish her work before she can play. Help her to get 
the work done and then all have a good time. You will be very much 
happier. 

Fourth, brothers and sisters ought to pray for each other. There was a 
dear little fellow of five years of age, named Harry. He had a baby 
brother, who at one time was very ill. Harry would go at least a dozen 
times every day into his little room, and when he thought no one saw or 
heard him but his Heavenly Father, would kneel down by his bedside, and 
say : " O Lord ! please make my dear brother better. Amen, for Christ's 
sake." After a while the baby got well. When you pray, remember to pray 
for brother and sister. 

(663) 



FIFTIETH WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.— Heb. xii. 2. 



The dear Christ dwells not afar, 
The king of some remoter star, 
But here, amidst the poor and blind. 
The bound and suffering of our kind 



In works we do, in prayers we pray, 
Life of our life, He lives to-day. 

—Selected. 



Too many only see Christ in a book, as we see places in a map; but, to 
come nigh — to enjoy Him — this is delightful and saving. — Rutherford. 



Christ is a path, if any be misled; 

He is a robe, if any naked be; 
If any chance to hunger, he is bread ; 

If any be a bondman, he is free; 

If any be but weak, how strong is He ! 



To dead men life He is; to sick men, health; 
To blind men, sight ; and to the needy, wealth ; 
A pleasure without loss ; a treasure without 
stealth. —Selected. 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

The Infinite Compensation. — John xvi. 



1 These things have I spoken unto you, that 
ye should not be offended. 

2 They shall put you out of the synagogues : 
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth 
you will think that he doeth God service. 

3 And these things will they do unto you, 
because they have not known the Father, nor 
me. 

4 But these things have I told you, that when 
the time shall come, ye may remember that I 
told you of them. And these things I said not 
unto you at the beginning, because I was with 
you. 

5 But now I go my way to him that sent 
me ; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest 
thou ? 

6 But because I hnve said these things unto 
you, sorrow halh filled your heart. 

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth ; It is 
expedient for you that I go away : for if I go 
not away, the Comfoiter will not come unto 
you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the 
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of 
judgment : 

9 0£ sin, because they believe not on me ; 

10 Of righteousness, because 1 go to my Fa- 
ther, find ye see me no more ; 

It Of judgment, because the prince of this 
world is judged. 
(664) 



12 I have yet many things to say unto you, 
but ye cannot bear them now. 

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is 
come, he will guide you into all truth : for he 
shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he 
shall hear, that shall he speak : and he will 
shew you things to come. 

14 He shall glorify me : for he shall receive 
of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 

15 All things that the Father hath are mine ; 
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, 
and shall shew it unto you. 

16 A little while, and ye shall not see me : 
and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, 
because I go to the Father. 

17 Then said some of his disciples among 
themselves. What is this that he saith unto us, 
A little while, and ye shall not see me : and 
again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and. 
Because I go to the Father ? 

18 They said therefore. What is this that he 
saith, A little while ? we cannot tell what he 
saith. 

19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous 
to ask him, and said unto them. Do ye inquire 
among yourselves of that I said, A little while, 
and ye shall not see me: and again, a little 
while, and ye shall see me? 

20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye 
shall weep and lament, but the world shall 



4 



SUNDAY. 



6(Jo 



rejoice ; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your 
sorrow shall be turned into joy. 

21 A woman when she is in travail liath sor- 
row, because her hour is come : but as soon as she 
is delivered of the child, she remembereth no 
more the anguish, for joy that a man is born 
into the world. 

22 And ye now therefore have sorrow : but 
I will see you again, and your heart shall 
rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from 
you. 

23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. 
Verily, verily, I say unto you. Whatsoever ye 
shall ask the Father in my name, he will give 
/Vyou. 

24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my 
name : ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy 
may be full. 

25 These things have I spoken unto you in 
proverbs : but the time cometh, when I shall 
no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall 
shew you plainly of the Father. 

26 At that day ye shall ask in my name : and 



I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father 
for you : 

27 For the Father himself loveth you, be- 
cause ye have loved me, and have believed that 
I came out from God. 

28 I came forth from the Father, and am 
come into the world : again, I leave the world, 
and go to the F'ather. 

29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now 
speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 

30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all 
things, and needest not that any-man should 
ask thee : by this we believe that thou earnest 
forth from God. 

31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 

32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now 
come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to 
his own, and shall leave me alone : and yet I 
am not alone, because the Father is with me. 

^2 These things I have spoken unto you, 
that in me ye might have peace. In the world 
ye shall have tribulation : but be of good cheer; 
I have overcome the world. 



His going away seemed to His disciples the sum of all possible calamity. 
It was to this conviction of theirs He thus speaks : If I depart, I will more 
than compensate you, and the world, by the gift of " The Comforter." 

" Uncalendered inheritance is ours in the Holy Comforter ! Never were 
words so weighty in wondrous wealth and consequences as these (John 
xvi. 8-14; xiv. 16-26). He will convict unsaved men of the unbelief which 
rejects Christ. He will vindicate Christ's righteous method of salvation 
through His atoning blood. He will comfort, guide, illuminate, sanctify 
believers. He will show them things to come, reveal Christ, satisfy them 
by His truth, quicken the understanding and rule the heart, be the witness 
of their adoption and the earnest of their heaven (Rom. viii. 14-17)." — 
Rev. yoJin Parker. 

" Verily, verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My 
name, He will give it you " (verse 23). Here is a double verily, if one will 
not do. Furthermore, the promise itself comes in with a blessed shall and 
will ; and that not to any limited request or petition, but extended to a 
■whatsoever, as if Jesus threw the reins of government into His people's 
hand. Jesus Himself doth, as it were, put into thine hand a blank paper for 
thee to fill in, having signed and set His own blessed and holy name at the 
bottom. Now what wilt thou write down ? Thou hast nothing more to do, 
than to follow the Lord's example, and as He hath written His name in the 
promise, do thou also write Jesus, and Jesus only, on the whole paper. Ask 
of God thy Father to give thee Jesus : for in giving Him, in Him and with 
Him, He giveth all things. Lord, I would say, give me Thine own dear 
Son, and I need nothing more : Christ is all, and in all. 



Closet Promise 

might have peace. 



FIFTIETH WEEK. 



cheer ; 



— These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye 
In the world ye shall have tribulation : but be of good 
I have overcome the world. — John xvi. 33. 



Accustom yourself to unreasonableness and injustice. Abide in peace in 
the presence of God, who sees all these evils more clearly than you do, and 
who permits them. Be content with doing with calmness the little which 
depends upon yourself, and let all else be to you as if it were not. — Fenelon. 



MONDAY. 

The Flourishing Vine.— Sol. Song 



1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest 
among women ? whither is thy beloved turned 
aside ? that we may seek him with thee. 

2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, 
to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, 
and to gather lilies. 

3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is 
mine : he feedeth among the lilies. 

4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, 
comely ;is Jerusalem, terrible as a« flr/zy with 
banners. 

5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they 
have overcome me : thy hair is as a flock of 
goats tliat appear from Gilead : 

6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go 
up from the washing, whereof every one beareth 
twins, and there is not one barren among them. 

7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy tem- 
ples within thy locks. 



8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore 
concubines, and virgins without number. 

9 My dove, my undefiled, is bttt one ; she is 
the only one of her mother, she is the choice 
one of her that bare her. The daughters saw 
her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the 
concubines, and they praised her. 

10 Who is she that looketh forth as the 
morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and 
terrible as an army with banners ? 

1 1 I went down into the garden of nuts to 
see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether 
the vine flourished, and the pomegranates 
budded. 

12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me 
like the chariots of Ammi-nadib. 

13 Return, return, O Shulamite ; return, re- 
turn, that we may look upon thee. What will 
ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the com- 
pany of two armies. 



" I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and 
to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded " (verse 1 1). 
This is spoken of the blessed Redeemer. He tends the fruits of His grace 
which spring in the lowliest valleys, and marks the first buddings in the new 
convert, or the feeble believer. 

" The more we grow in grace, the more will God love us. Is it not that 
we pray for? the more growth, the more will God love us. The husband- 
man loves his thriving plants ; the thriving Christian is God's Hephzibah, or 
chief delight. Christ loves to .see the vine flourishing, and the pomegranates 
budding. Christ accepts the truth of grace, but commends the growth of 
grace : ' I "have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.' Would you be 
as the beloved disciple that lay in Christ's bosom ? would you have much 
love from Christ ? labor for much growth, let faith flourish with good works, 
and love increase into zeal." — Watson. 



MONDAY. 



667 



Closet Promise. — This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend. — Sol. 
Song V. i6. 

Why should I be solitary if Jesus Christ is my friend? Why should I 
fear if He walks by my side? Why should anything be burdensome if He 
lays it upon me and helps me to bear it ? What is there in life that cannot 
be faced and borne — ay, and conquered — if we have Him, as we all may 
have Him. for the friend and the home of our hearts. 



TUESDAY. 

The Godly. — Isa. xxxiii. 13-24. 



13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have 
done ; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my 
might. 

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid ; fearful- 
ness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who 
among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? 
who among us shall dwell with everlasting 
burnings ? 

15 He that walketh righteously, and speak- 
eth uprightly ; he that despiseth the gain of 
oppressions, that shaketh his hands from hold- 
ing of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hear- 
ing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing 
evil ; 

16 He shall dwell on high; his place of de- 
fence shall be the munitions of rocks : bread 
shall be given him ; his waters shall be sure. 

17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty : 
they shall behold the land that is very far oft". 

18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where 
w the scribe? where is the receiver? where w 
he that counted the towers ? 

19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a 



people of a deeper speech than thou canst 
perceive ; of a stammering tongue, that thou 
canst not understand. 

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemni- 
ties : thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet 
habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken 
down ; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever 
he removed, neilher shall any of the cords 
thereof be broken. 

21 But there the glorious Lord will be unto 
us a place of broad rivers, a7id streams ; where- 
in shall go no galley with oars, neither shall 
gallant ship pass thereby. 

22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is 
our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he vi'ill 
save us. 

23 Thy tacklings are loosed ; they could not 
well strengthen their mast ; they could not 
spread the sail : then is the prey of a great spoil 
divided; the lame take the prey. 

24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am 
sick ; the people that dwell therein shall be 
forgiven their iniquity. 



In these verses the prophet presents, in contrast, the confidence and 
security of the righteous. He first (in verse 15) describes the character- 
istics of the righteous, and in the following verses their confidence in God, 
and their security and safety. The characteristics mentioned are: i. Walks 
righteously — that is, he does right. 2. SpeaketJi uprigJitly — his words are 
well ordered. 3. Despiseth the gain of oppressions — he abhors the gain that 
is the result of imposition, false dealing, and false weights. 4. Shaketh his 
hands from holding of bribes — as a magistrate, he does not allow his judg- 
ment to be swayed by the prospect of reward. 5. Stopping his ears front 
hearing of blood — does not listen to a proposal to any scheme of violence. 
6. And shutteth his eyes from seeing evil. He does not desire to see it ; he 
is not found in the places where it is committed. 

The man thus described shall be preserved from alarm and danger, as if 



668 



FIFTIETH WEFK. 



his habitation were on a lofty cliff or rock. The strongholds of the rock 
shall be his lofty fortress. " Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be 
sure." He shall be sustained, 'and his life shall be preserved. 

Cloest Promise. — But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place 
of broad rivers and streams. — Isa. xxxiii. 21. 



Region of life and light, 
Land of the good whose earthly toils are o'er! 

Nor frost nor heat may blight 
Thy vernal beauty, fertile shore, 
Yielding thy blessed fruits for evermore ! 



There, without crook or sling, 
Walks the Good Shepherd ; blossoms white and 
red 
Round His meek temples cling; 
And, to sweet pastures led. 
His own loved flock beneath His eye is fed. 
— From the Spanish of Ponce de Leon. 



WEDNESDAY. 

A Song of Praise. — Psalm Ixvi. 



1 Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands : 

2 Sing forth the honour of his name : make 
his praise glorious. 

3 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in 
thy works ! through the greatness of thy power 
shall thine enemies submit themselves unto 
thee. 

4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall 
sing unto thee ; they shall sing to thy name. 
Selah. 

5 Come and see the works of God : he is ter- 
rible in his doing toward the children of men. 

6 He turned the sea into dry landr'thty 
went through the flood on foot : there did we 
rejoice in him. 

7 He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes 
behold the nations : let not the rebellious exalt 
themselves. Selah. 

8 Oh bless our God, ye people, and make the 
voice of his praise to be heard : 

9 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suflfer- 
eth not our feet to be moved. 

ID For thou, O God, hast proved us : thou 
hast tried us, as silver is tried. 



11 'Thou broughtest us into the net; thou 
laidst affliction upon our loins. 

12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our 
heads ; we went through fire and through 
water : but thou broughtest us - out into a 
wealthy place. 

13 I will go into thy house with burnt offer- 
ings : I will pay thee my vows, 

14 Which my lips have uttered, and my 
mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. 

15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of 
fatlings, with the incense of rams : I will offer 
bullocks with goats. Selah. 

16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and 
I will declare what he hath done for my soul. 

17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he 
was extolled with my tongue. 

18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord 
will not hear ine : 

19 But verily God hath heard me ; he hath 
attended to the voice of my prayer. 

20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned 
away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. 



Praise is the special topic of this Psalm, and the subjects for song are the 
Lord's great works, His gracious benefits, His faithful deliverances, and all 
His dealings with His people ; " the singer then becomes personal, and con- 
fesses his own obligations to the Lord (verses 13, 14, 15); and, bursting 
forth with a vehement 'Come and See,' declares with thanksgiving the special 
favor of the Lord to himself, verses 16-20." 

The psalmist's example here is a good one for us to follow. Testimony 
ought to be borne by all Christians. 

"After we are delivered from the dreadful apprehensions of the wrath of 



WEDNESDAY. 



669 



God, it is our duty to be publicly thankful. It is for the glory of our 
Healer to speak of the miserable wounds that once pained us : and of that 
kind hand that saved us when we were brought very low. It is for the 
glory of our Pilot to tell of the rocks and of the sands ; the many dangers 
and threatening calamities that He, by His wise conduct, made us to escape : 
and to see us safe on the shore, may cause others that are yet afflicted, and 
tost with tempests, to look to Him for help; for He is able and ready to 
save them as well as us." — TvnotJiy Rogers. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil ; He shall 
preserve thy soul. — Psalm cxxi. 7. 

In my life God has always been right. I have said, " Father, I want this," 
and He has been silent; and I have said, " Silence gives consent, I will have 
it." I have taken it, and it has stung me. I have said, " I will not go down 
this road, it looks dark and perilous, and there may be beasts of prey down 
there ; birds of evil omen may be darkening the black shadows of the treacher- 
ous trees." And God has said, " Go down." And I have said, " Spare me 
this," and He has said, " Go;" and I have in His strength gone down, and 
all the darkness was gone through in three yards or less, and after that 
came a road thronged with angels, colored with heaven, bright with all that 
makes heaven lustrous. — yoscph Parker. 



THURSDAY. 

The Fight Transferred. — 2 Chron. xx. 5-30. 



5 \ And Jehoshaphat stood in the congrega- 
tion of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of 
the Lord, before ilie new court, 

6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art 
not thou God in heaven? and ruk-st not thou 
over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and 
in thine hand is there not power and might, so 
that none is able to withstand thee? 

7 Art not thou our God, ivho didst drive out 
the inhabitants of this land before thy people 
Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy 
friend for ever ? 

8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee 
a sanctuary tlierein for thy name, saying, 

9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, 
judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand 
before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy 
name is in this house.) and cry unto thee in our 
affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. 

10 And now, behold, the children of Amnion 
and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest 
not let Israel invade, when they came out of the 
land of Egypt, but they turned from them, .and 
destroyed them not ; 



11 Behold, / say, how they reward us, to 
come to cast us out of thy possession, which 
thou hast given us to inherit. 

12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them ? for 
we have no might against this great company 
that cometh against us ; neither know we what 
to do : but our eyes are upon thee. 

13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, 
with their little ones, their wives, and their 
children. 

14 \ Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zecha- 
riah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the 
son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, 
came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the 
congregation ; 

15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and 
ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Je- 
hoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be 
not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great 
multitude ; for the battle is not yours, but God's. 

16 To morrow go ye down against them - 
behold, they come u|5 by the cliff of Ziz; and ye 
shall find them at the end of the brook, before 
the wilderness of Jeruel. 



670 



FIFTIETH WEEK. 



17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle : 
set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salva- 
tion of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jeru- 
salem : fear not, nor be dismayed ; to morrow go 
out against them : for the Lord will be with 
you. 

18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his 
face to the ground : and all Judah and the in- 
habitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, 
worshipping the Lord. 

19 And the Levites, of the children of the 
Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, 
stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with 
a loud voice on high. 

20 ^ And they rose early in the morning, and 
went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa : and as 
they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said. 
Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jeru- 
salem ; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall 
ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall 
ye prosper. 

21 And when he had consulted with the 
people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, 
and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as 
they went out before the army, and to say, 
Praise the Lord; for his mercy eiuinrelh for 
ever. 

22 ^1" And when they began to sing and to 
praise, the Lord set ambushments against the 
children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, 
which were come against Judah; and they weix 
smitten. 

23 For the children of Ammon and Moab 
stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, 



utterly to slay and destroy them : and when they 
had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, 
every one helped to destroy another. 

24 And when Judah came toward the watch- 
tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the 
multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies 
fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 

25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people 
came to take away the spoil of them, they found 
among them in abundance both riches with the 
dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they 
stripped off for themselves, more than they could 
carry away ; and they were three days in gath- 
ering of the spoil, it was so much. 

26 ^ And on the fourth day they assembled 
themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there 
they blessed the Lord : therefore the name of 
the same place was called, The valley of Bera- 
chah, unto this day. 

27 Then they returned, eveiy man of Judah 
and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront, 
of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for 
the Lord had made them to rejoice over their 
enemies. 

28 And they came to Jerusakm with psalter- 
ies and harps and trumpets unto the house of the 
Lord. 

29 And the fear of God was on all the king- 
doms of those countries, when they had heard 
that the Lord fought against the enemies of 
Israel. 

30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet : for 
his God gave him rest round about. 



Jelioshapliat was driven into a corner. He said openly in the hearing of 
his people, " We have no might against this great host." But "the battle 
is not yours, but God's." What a text for those who are trying to live in 
the fear and love of God under discouraging circumstances. 

" Stand on a promontory: they with you are great, they beneath you seem 
.small ; the situation of the eye makes or mars all. So it is with men in the 
time of trouble; if their eyes be fixed on earth, their enemies appear great, 
and God that is so high seems little. Let our eyes be in heaven, and from 
thence look down upon our enemies: God will appear mighty, our foes weak 
and contemptible. This was Jehoshaphat's confidence. ' There is no 
strength in us to stand against this multitude; but our eyes are upon Thee' 
(2 Chron. xx. 12) . . . We are all weak; in this mighty Deliverer be our 
confidence.' ' — A dams. 

"And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto 
the Lord." Anybody can sing the Te Deum when the battle is over. The 
difference between an ordinary man of war and a Christian is this : a Chri.s- 
tian shouts before the victory, because he knows it is sure to come. 



THE ASCENSION. 

And a cloud received Him out of their sight. — Acis i. 9. 

671 



T H U R S I) A Y . 



673 



Closet Promise. — Through God we shall do valiantly; for He it is that 
shall tread down our enemies. — Psalm Ix. 12. 



' There is an unseen battle-field 

In every human breast, 
Where two opposing forces meet, 
And where they seldom rest. 



That field is veiled from mortal sight- 

'Tis only seen by One 
Who knows alone where victory lies 

W^hen each day's fight is done." 



FRIDAY. 

The Golden Calf. — Ex. xxxii. 1-20. 



I And when the people saw that Moses de- 
layed to come down out of the mount, the people 
gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and 
said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go 
before us; for as for this Moses, the man that 
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot 
not what is become of him. 

Z And Aaron said unto them. Break off the 
golden earrings, which are in the ears of your 
wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and 
bring them unto me. 

3 And all the people brake off the golden ear- 
rings which were in their ears, and brought them 
unto Aaron. 

4 And he received them at their hand, and 
fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had 
made it a molten calf: and they said, These be 
thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of 
the land of Egypt. 

5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar 
before it ; and Aaron made proclamation, and 
said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord. 

6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and 
offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offer- 
ings ; and the people sat down to eat and to 
drink, and rose up to play. 

7 \ And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get 
thee down ; for thy people, which thou brought- 
est out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted 
themselves : 

8 They have turned aside quickly out of the 
way which I commanded them: they have made 
them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and 
have sacrificed thereunto, and said. These be thy 
gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out 
of the land of Egypt. 

9 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen 
this people, and, behold, it is a stiffhecked peo- 
ple : 

ID Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath 
may wax hot against them, and that I may con- 
sume them : and I will make of thee a great na- 
tion. 



1 1 And Moses besought the Lord his God, 
and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot 
against thy people, which thou hast brought forth 
out of the land of Egypt with great power, and 
with a mighty hand ? 

12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and 
say. For mischief did he bring them out, to slay 
them in the mountains, and to consume them 
from the face of the earth ? Turn from thy 
fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy 
people. 

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy 
servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own 
self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your 
seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that 

j I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and 
they shall inherit it for ever. 

14 And the Lord repented of the evil which 
he thought to do unto his people. 

15 \ And Moses turned, and went down from 
the mount, and the two tables of the testimony 
we7e in his hand : the tables were written on 
both their sides ; on the one side and on the other 

{ were they written. 

16 And the tables were the work of God, and 
the writing was the writing of God, graven upon 
the tables. 

17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the 
people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, 
There is a noise of war in the camp. 

18 And he said, // is not the voice of thevi 
that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of 
them that cry for being overcome ; but the noise 
of them that sing do I hear. 

19 \ And it came to pass, as soon as he came 
nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the 
dancing : and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he 
cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them 
beneath the mount. 

20 And he took the calf which they had made, 
and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, 
and strewed it upon the water, and made the 
children of Israel drink of it. 



" Have we made any calves ? Ah, many. We have been great at idol- 
making. Can I count the calves we have woishipped ? The unholy cata- 



674 



FIFTIETH WEEK. 



logue : Pride, Fashion, Gluttony, Self-indulgence, Wealth, Station, Influ- 
ence, Appearances — all calves of our making, calves of gold." — Joseph 
Parker, D. D. 

" Whatever we make first in our heart's love that is our god. That to 
which we sacrifice precious things is our God. Whosoever gives up God's 
commandments, or right, or honor, or truth, or character, or usefulness, for 
the sake of any gain or of attaining any end, is an idolater." — F. N. Pelotibet, 
D.D. 

" ' Who is on the Lord's side ? ' There are two great interests on foot in 
the world, with the one or the other of which all men are siding. The 
interest of sin and wickedness is the devil's interest, and all wicked people 
side with it. The interest of truth and holiness is God's interest, with which 
all godly people side ; and it is a case that will not admit a neutrality. It 
concerns us all to inquire whether we are, on the Lord's side or not." — 
Henry. 

We show we are on the Lord's side by obeying His commands, by a 
public profession of faith, by standing by the right even when it costs a great 
deal, by doing God's work. 

Closet Promise. — Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and 
sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better 
than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. — i Sam. xv. 22. 



The folded hands seem idle : 
If folded at His word, 



'Tis a holy service, trust me, 
In obedience to the Lord. 

— Anna Shipion. 



It is not the multitude of hard duties, it is not constraint and contention 
that advance us in our Christian course. On the contrary, it is the yielding 
of our wills without restriction and without choice, to tread cheerfully every 
day in the path in which Providence leads us, to seek nothing, to be dis- 
couraged by nothing, to see our duty in the present moment, to trust all else 
without reserve to the will and power of God. — Fenelon. 



SATURDAY. 

The World Conqueror — i John 



1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ 
is born of God : and every one that loveth him 
that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of 
him. 

2 By this w^e know that we love the children 
of God, when we love God, and keep his com- 
mandments. 



3 For this is the love of God, that we keep 
his commandments : and his commandments 
are not grievous. 

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh 
the world : and this is the victory that over- 
cometh the world, even our faith. 



SATURDAY. 



675 



5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but 
he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ? 

6 This is he that came by water and blood, 
even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by 
water and blood. And it is the Spirit that 
beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 

7 For there are three that bear record in 
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy 
Ghost : and these three ;\re one. 

8 And there are three that bear witness in 
earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood : 
and these three agree in one. 

9 If we receive the witness of men, the vv'it- 
ness of God is greater : for this is the witness 
of God which he hath testified of his Son. 

10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath 
the witness in himself: he that believeth not 
God hath made him a liar ; because he believeth 
not the record that God gave of his Son. 

11 And this is the record, that God hath 
given to us eternal life, and this life is in his 
Son. 

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he 
that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 

13 These things have I written unto you that 
believe on the name of the Son of God ; that 
ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that 
ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 



14 And this is the confidence that we have in 
him, that, if we ask any thing according to his 
will, he heareth us : 

15 And if we know that he heaj us, whatso- 
ever we ask, we know that we have the peti- 
tions that we desired of him. 

16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which 
is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall 
give him life for them that sin not unto death. 
There is a sin unto death : I do not say that 
he shall pray for it. 

1 7 All unrighteousness is sin : and there is a 
sin not unto death. 

18 We know that whosoever is born of God 
sinneth not ; but he that is begotten of God 
keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth 
him not. 

19 Andvit know that we are of God, and 
the whole world lieth in wickedness. 

20 And we know that the Son of God is 
come, and hath given us an understanding, that 
we may know him that is true; and we are in 
him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. 
This is the true God, and eternal life. 

21 Little children, keep yourselves from 
idols. Amen. 



" This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith " (verse 4). 
A lofty thought, to face the whole world and to conquer it ! " This is the 
victory, by which the martyrs overcame, by which the weak became strong, 
and, in Divine strength, mastered the strong ; the strength of endurance 
wearied out the brutal might of affliction ; children overcame their oppressor ; 
the ignorant took captive the learning of the world; fishermen and the 
tent-maker subdued the world ; the dying conquered the living ; the blood 
of martyrs became the harvest-seed of the Cliurcli. By faith, St. Paul says, 
' they subdued kingdoms ; ' by faith St. Peter bids us resist the evil one. 
For faith knits us to Christ ; faith obtains for us the power of Christ ; faith 
prevails with Him who is Almighty, and overcomes the world, for it has 
power with Him who has power over the world." — Piisey. 

" It is hard to turn a life that is misdirected into right channels ; it is hard 
to change wrong feeling to right feeling; but it can be done. And the 
victory will pay for the struggle. Not those victories which come easiest 
are most sweet to us." — H. W. Beecher. 



Closet Promise. — And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will 
I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything 
in My name, I will do it. — ^John xiv. 13, 14. 



676 



FIFTIETH WEEK. 



When thy heart's bowed down with grief, 
When no friend can give relief, 

Tell Jesus. 

When thy soul is faint and weary, 
When all things look dark and dreary. 

Tell Jesus. 

When for sin thy heart is broke, 
When for thee there seems no hope. 

Tell Jesus. 

When sad doubts and fears depress thee. 
When temptations sharp distress thee. 

Tell Jesus. 



When care and anguish weigh thee down, 
When pain and sickness force a groan, 

Tell Jesus. 

When fear of death disturbs thy peace, 
When Christian counsels give no ease, 

Tell Jesus. 

In whatever state thou art, 
Whatever sorrows swell thine heart, 

Tell Jesus. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need 
of all these things. — Matt. vi. 32. 

Weekly Proverb. — Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed 
of it, is. — Poor Richard. * 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— RUSKIN'S FAVORITE CHAPTERS. 

Sunday. — Sermon on the Mount. — Matt. vi. 
Monday. — Sermon on the Mount. — Matt. vii. 
Tuesday. — Paul's Defence. — Acts xxvi. 
Wednesday. — The Praises of Charity. — I Cor. xiii. 
Thursday. — Of the Resurrection. — i Cor. xv. 
Friday. — The Slain Lamb. — Rev. v. 
Saturday. — The Opening of the Seals. — Rev. vi. 



I 



LITTLE BITS. 

' A little bit of Patience 

Often makes the sunshine come, 
And a little bit of Love 

Makes a very happy home ; 



A little bit of Hope 

Makes a rainy day look gay ; 
And a little bit of Charity 

Makes glad a weary way." 

—SeUctea. 



THE SUM OF IT ALL. 

The boy that by addition grows, 
And suffers no subtraction, 

Who multiplies the things he knows. 
And carries every fraction. 



Who well divides his precious time, 

The due proportion giving, 
To sure success aloft will climb. 

Interest compound receiving. 

—Dr. Ray Palmer. 



LAW OF LIFE. 



Live I, so live I, 
To my Lord heartily. 



To my Prince faithfully. 
To my Neighbor honestly, 
Die I, so die I. 

— Longfellou 



My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 677 

mother: bind them continual!}- upon thine heart, and tie them- about thy 
neck. — Prov. vi. 20, 21. 

Do you have to commit a verse of the Bible or a part of the Catechism? 
or the "rule of three?" That is a good thing to do. Do you /lafe it? 
Do you wish you didn't have to do it? Well let me show you how you 
will prize it some day. Some time you will need that very thing. Perhaps 
it may be twenty years before you can make it fit in just the right place; 
but it will be just in place some time; and then, if you don't have it, you 
will be like the hunter who had no ball in his rifle when a bear met him. 
'' Twent\'-five years ago, my teacher made me study surveying," said a man 
who had lately lost his property; "and now I am glad of it. It is just in 
place. I can get a good situation and high salary." Daniel Webster once 
told a good story in a speech, and was asked where he got it. " I have had 
it laid up in my head for fourteen years, and never had a chance to use it 
till to-day," said he. Now, children, the Bible and Catechism are better 
than all these other things. They will be in place as long as you live. I 
liope you will never complain again, when your parents or teachers want 
you to learn a Bible verse or the Catechism. 
37 



THE TAMBOURINE GIRL. 



" Tell us a story, papa ! papa ! 

A story of something strange and afar ; 

'Tis a stormy night, and never a star 

Shines in the dark overhead. 
But here, where mamma i>, the fire is bright — 
She will smile and sew by the soft lamp-light — 
The lessons are learned and 'tis just the night 

For stories," the children said. 

The father nestled the litile form 

Of the child on his knee, while the moaning 

storm , 
Angry at seeing them snug and warm, 

Rattled at window and door; 
The older ones eager as children are 
For a stirring tale of the strange and far, 
Just to be nearer their dear papa, 

Crept to his feet on the floor. 

"A story, my liltle ones; what shall it be ? 
A hunt in the mountains ? a ship lost at sea ? 
Or a tale of the fiiries?" "Oh, tell us all 
three," 

Together the children said. 
" The wreck is for Edith who loves the sea 

well. 
The nice fairy story for sweet baby Belle, 
And the hardest hunt you ever can tell 

For Robert and Will and Fred." 

A picture to sorrowful eyes beguile. 
Fair in the light of a mother's smile, 
They made — as they waited and watched the 
while 

For " Once upon a time ! " 
But ere it was spoken, a sound half pain. 
Louder and sadder than sobbing rain. 
Rose, and quivered, and died again 

In broken and tremulous rhyme. 



'Twas the voice of a child in a Southern tongue, 
Singing a song in the vineyards sung, 
In a sunnier land the flowers among. 

And the listening children heard : 
And their hearts went out through the rain and 

mist. 
Through winds that threatened and sleet that 

hissed, 
To seek for the sweet child-mouth unkissed. 

That sung like a Summer bird. 

Wet locks shadowed her dusky eyes, 
Startled and full of a sweet surprise. 
Her sad voice gladdened in low replies; 

As round her the children pressed; 
They warmed in their own her bare brown 

hand. 
They made her a place in the fireside band, 
They gave her glimpse of her own far land 

In comfort and love and rest. 

They found her beggared and poor and mean, 
They drew her in to the sweet home scene, 
The dark frail child with her tambourine 

Out of the pitiless night; 
The mother-heart gave a mother's care, 
Each child-heart tried its gift to share. 
They taught her the meaning of love and prayer, 

And lifted her into the light. 

The longed-for stories were left unsaid ; 
The children safely asleep in bed 
Had lived a wondrous tale instead, 

Though little their young hearts guessed 
That work for fairies their hands had wrought. 
That sweetest moral their lips had taught. 
That through the might of their loving thought, 

A whole sad life was blessed. 

— Mrs. Mary Lowe Dickinsoti. 



(678). 




THE TAMBOURINE GIRL. 

679 



FIFTY-FIRST WEEK. 



PEARL TEXT.— Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. — Luke x. 27. 

Oh, blessed life ! — heart, mind, and soul. 

From self-born aims and wishes free. 

In all at one with Deity, 
And loyal to the Lord's control. — W. T. Matson. 

The measure of our love to God is, that we love Him beyond measure. — 
St. Bernard. 

Add love, everything profits ; take away love, what remains profits 
nothing. — St. Atigustine. 

Love your neighbor, but do not pull down the hedge. — Selected. 

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 

SUNDAY. 

The Affectionate Heart of Jesus. — John xi. 1-46. 



1 Now a certain man was sick, named Laz- 
arus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her 
sister Martha. 

2 It was that Mary which anointed the Lord 
with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, 
whose brother Lazarus was sick. 

3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, 
Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 

4 When Jesus heard that, he said. This sick- 
ness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, 
that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. 

5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, 
and Lazarus. 

6 When he had heard therefore that he was 
sick, he abode two days still in the same place 
where he was. 

7 Then after that saith he to his disciples. 
Let us go into Judea again. 

8 His disciples say unto him. Master, the 
Jews of late sought to stone thee ; and goest 
thou thither again ? 

9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve 
hours in the day ? If any man walk in the 
day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the 
light of this world. 

10 But if a man walk in the night, he 
stumbleth, because there is no light in him. 

H These things said he: and after that he 
saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; 
but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 



12 Then said his disciples. Lord, if he sleep, 
he shall do well. 

13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but 
they thought that he had spoken of taking of 
rest in sleep. 

14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Laz- 
arus is dead. 

15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was 
not there, to the intent ye may believe ; never- 
theless let us go unto him. 

16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didy- 
mus, unto his fellow disciples. Let us also go, 
that we may die with him. 

17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he 
had lain in the grave four days already. 

18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, 
about fifteen furlongs off : 

19 And many of the Jews came to Martha 
and Mary, to comfort them concerning their 
brother. 

20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that 
Jesus was coming, went and met him : but 
Mary sat still in the house. 

21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if 
thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 

22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever 
thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 

23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall 
rise again. 

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he 

(681) 



682 



FIFTY-FIRST WFFK. 



shall rise again in the resurrection at the last 
day. 

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, 
and the life : he that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live : 

26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in 
me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord : I believe 
that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which 
should come into the world. 

28 And when she had so said, she went her, 
way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, 
The Master is come, and calleth for thee. 

29 As soon as she heard that, she arose 
quickly, and came unto him. 

30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the 
town, but was in that place where Martha met 
him. 

31 The Jews then which were with her in the 
house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, 
that she rose up hastily and went out, followed 
her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep 
there. 

32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus 
was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, 
saying unto him. Lord, if thou hadst been here, 
my brother had not died. 

33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, 
and the Jews also weeping which came with 
her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 

34 And said. Where have ye laid him ? They 
said unto him. Lord, come and see. 

35 Jesus wept. 

36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved 
him ! 



37 And some of them said. Could not this 
man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have 
caused that even this man should not have 
died? 

38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself 
Cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a 
stone lay upon it. 

39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Mar- 
tha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto 
him. Lord, by this time he stinketh : for he 
hath been dead four days. 

40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, 
that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest 
see the gloiy of God ? 

41 Then they took away the stone/ro/« the 
place where the dead was laid. And Jesus 
lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee 
that thou hast heard me. 

42 And I knew that thou hearest me always : 
but because of the people which stand by I 
said it, that Ihey may believe that thou hast 
sent me. 

43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried 
with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 

44 And he that was dead came forth, bound 
hand and foot with graveclothes; and his face 
was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith 
unto them, Loose him, and let him go. 

45 \ Then many of the Jews which came to 
Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, 
believed on him. 

46 But some of them went their ways to the 
Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had 
done. 



My soul ! ponder well one thought running through this lesson. The 
sorrowful sisters, in their message to Jesus, did not tell Him that one whom 
they loved was sick, but one whom Jestis loved. There could be no doubt of 
their love to their brother ; but their application to Jesus was on account of 
His love. We must not overlook this. It is the most blessed and the most 
powerful of all arguments in prayer, when we come to a throne of grace 
for those that are dear and near to us, when we can and do tell the Lord, 
that they for whom we seek His mercy are the objects of His love. 

" My soul ! what saith thine own experience to all this ? Doth the Re- 
deemer lay crosses in thy way ? Art thou visited with sickness, and doth 
Jesus perform the part of the tenderest nurse, and sit up with thee ? Dost 
thou hear His well-known voice, saying, 'As one whom his mother com- 
forteth, so will I comfort you ? ' Surely, then, th*ou wilt fully subscribe to the 
sweet words of Jesus, in His answer to the sorrowful sisters. Every exer- 
cise and every trial of the Lord's people, which He sweetens and sanctifies, 
' is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be 
glorified thereby.' " — Haivker. 



SUNDAY. 683 

" Jesus wept." Will not Jesus, who wept at the grave of Lazarus, feel 
for me? Shall I look up to Him, and look up in vain? Oh, no! the sight 
that bursts in secret from my heart, is not secret to Him ; the tear that on 
my night couch drops, unperceived and unknown to the world, is known 
and numbered by Him. Oh ! that blessed Scripture : " In all their affliction, 
He was afflicted ; and the angel of His presence saved them ; in His love, 
and in His pity, He redeemed them, and He bare them, and carried them all 
the days of old " (Isa. Ixiii. 9). 

Closet Promise. — I am the resurrection, and the life ; he that believeth 
in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and 
believeth in Me shall never die. — ^John xi. 25, 26. 



Death is here and death is there,. 
Death is busy everywhere ; 
All around, within, beneath. 
Above is death — and we are death. 

First our pleasures die, and then 

Our hopes, and then our fears ; and when 



These are dead, the debt is due. 
Dust claims dust, and we die too. 

All things that we love and cherish 
Like ourselves must fade and perish; 
Such is our rude mortal lot, 
Love itself would, did they not, 

— Percy Bysshe Shelley. 



The Resurrection of Christ is the guarantee of our own. The clouds 
which hung around the gate of death in earlier ages have rolled away since 
the day of our Saviour's triumph over death ; the presumptive speculations 
which were previously rife as to the future state have beeh exchanged for 
strong certainties. — Canon Liddon. 



MONDAY. 

God's Presence Promised. — Ex. xxxiii. 



12-23. 



12 ^And Moses said unto the Lord, See, 
thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people : and 
thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send 
with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by 
name, and thou hast also found grace in my 
sight. 

13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have 
found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, 
that I may know thee, that I may find grace in 
thy sight : and consider that this nation is thy 
people. 

14 And he said, My presence shall go -with 
thee, and I will give thee rest. 

15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go 
not with me, carry us not up hence.' 

16 For wherein shall it be known here that I 
and thy people have found grace in thy sight? 
is it not in that thou goest with us ? So shall 
we be separated, I and thy people, from all the 
people that are upon the face of the earth. 

17 And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do 



this thing also that thou hast spoken : for thou 
hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee 
by name. 

18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me 
thy glory. 

19 And he said, I will make all my goodness 
pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of 
the Lord before thee ; and will be gracious to 
whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy 
on whom I will shew mercy. 

20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face : 
for then; shall no man see me, and live. 

21 And the Lord said. Behold, there is a 
place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock : 

22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory 
passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the 
rock, and will cover thee with my hand while 
I pass by ; 

23 And I will take away mine hand, and 
thou shalt see my back parts ; but my face shall 
not be seen. 



684 FIFTY-FIRST WEEK. 

" I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in My sight " 
(verse 12). 

" God takes a hving, personal, peculiar interest in each redeemed soul; 
bending over it continually with infinite tenderness; watching each doubt, 
each fear, each trial, each temptation, each fall, each rising again, each con- 
flict, each victory, each defeat ; watching each and all with a solicitude as 
special and particular as if it were upon it that the exclusive regards of His 
loving heart were fixed." — Hanna. 

"And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest " 
(verse 14). No one can safely go through life, with its dangers, its enemies, 
its conflicts, its unknown future, without the abiding presence of God. But 
God is with those who trust in Him ; and what or whom shall we fear when 
God is with us ? Brother, when you do not know your way, ask your 
guide. Stand still and pray. If you cannot find the way upon the chart, 
commit yourself to the divine guidance of prayer. Down on your knees, 
and cry to the Lord ! 

" I beseech thee show me Thy glory." Moses had seen so much of God's 
glory, witnessed so much of His grace, that he thirsted for more. He 
prayed for an unveiled sight of God's glory. This is the boldest prayer on 
record. We can scarcely realize the magnitude of it. God was not dis- 
pleased with this great prayer, though it was one that could not be fully 
answered, at least at that time. Some prayers are not possible of answers. 
This was one of them. Not because God is not willing to do " for us exceed- 
ing abundantly above all that we can ask or think," but because we are not 
able to bear the answer. 

In the last three verses of the chapter God shows him how He will reveal 
Himself. " Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a 
rock." That place " by " Him, and that " rock," is Christ. In Him only 
can we draw nigh to God, and only as we stand on Him can we see the 
vision of God's glory in grace. " I will put thee in a cleft in the rock." 
Alone, we could not live in the presence of God's glory ; but hidden in 
Christ, we may live and behold the glory. 

Closet Promise. — My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee 
rest. — Ex. xxxiii. 14. 

How shall we rest in God ? By giving ourselves \vliolly to Him. If you 
give yourself by halves, you cannot find full rest; there will ever be a lurk- 
ing disquiet in that half which is withheld. Martyrs, confessors, and saints 
have tasted this rest, and "counted themselves happy in that they endured." 
A countless host of God's faithful servants have drunk deeply of it under 



I 



MONDAY. 



685 



the daily burden of a weary life — dull, commonplace, painful, or desolate. 
All that God has been to them He is ready to be to you. The heart once 
fairly given to God, with a clear conscience, a fitting rule of life, and a 
steadfast purpose of obedience, you will find a wonderful sense of rest 
coming over you. — Jean Nicolas Grou. 

TUESDAY. 

"A Psalm of Praise."— Psalm c. 



1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye 
lands. 

2 Serve the Lord with gladness : come be- 
fore his presence with singing. 

3 Know ye that the Lord he is God : // is he 
that hath made us, and not we ourselves ; we are 
his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 



4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and 
into his courts with praise : be thankful unto 
him, and bless his name. 

5 For the Lord is good ; his mercy is ever- 
lasting ; and his truth endurelh to all genera- 
tions. 



" This is the only Psalm bearing this precise inscription. It is all ablaze 
with grateful adoration, and has for this reason been a favorite with the 
people of God ever since it was written. . . . Nothing can be more sublime 
this side heaven than the singing of this noble Psalm by a vast congrega- 
tion. Watts' paraphrase, beginning ' Before Jehovah's awful throne,' and 
the Scotch 'AH people that on earth do dwell,' are both noble versions. . . . 
In this divine lyric we sing with gladness the creating power and goodness 
of the Lord." — C. H. Spurgeon. 

"Serve the Lord with gladness." " It is a sign the oil of grace hath been 
poured into the heart ' when the oil of gladness ' shines on the countenance. 
Cheerfulness credits religion." — Thomas Watson. 

" Can you bear to be waited upon by a servant who goes moping and 
dejected to his every task ? You would rather have no servant at all, than 
one who evidently finds your service cheerless and irksome." — George 
Bowen. 



Closet Promise. — I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that 
I will not turn away from them, to do them good ; but I will put My fear in 
their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me. — Jer. xxxii. 40. 

One has said, beautifully : " God gives His infinity, to be the extent of our 
inheritance ; His eternity, to the date of our happiness ; His unchangeable- 
ness, to the rock of our rest; His wisdom, to direct us; His power, to pro- 
tect us; His holiness, to sanctify us.; His justice, to absolve us; His good- 
ness, to reward us in the way of grace, not of debt ; His truth, to secure us 
in the accomplishment of all His promises." 



686 FIFTY -FIRST WKHK. 

What an inheritance ! Can a Christian, with a clear title to it, ever think 
of being poor? Can he ever be despondent? Can the shades of distrust 
ever gather upon his brow ? Such experiences seem to be wholly out of 
place. 



WEDNESDAY. 



Joshua's Farewell A 

1 And it came to pass, a long time after that 
the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all 
tlieir enemies round about, that Joshua waxed 
old and stricken in age. 

2 And Joshua called for all Israel, and for 
their elders, and for their lieads, and for their 
judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, 
1 am old (?«£/ stricken in age: 

3 And ye have seen all that the Lord your 
God hath done unto all these nations because of 
you ; for the Lord your God is he that halh 
fought for you. 

4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot the^e 
nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your 
tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I 
have cut off, even unto the great sea westward. 

5 And the Lord your God, he shall expel 
them from before you, and drive them from out 
of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as 
the Lord ycmr CJod hath promised unto you. 

6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and 
to do all that is written in the book of the law of 
Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the 
right hand or to the left; 

'7 That ye come not among these nations, 
these that remain among you; neither make 
mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to 
swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow your- 
selves unto them : 

8 But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye 
have done unto this day. 

9 For the Lord hath driven out from before 
you great nations and strong : but as for you, no' 
man hath been able to stand before you unto this 
day. 

10 One man of you shall chase a thousand : 



-Josh, xxiii. i-i6. 

for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for 
you, as he hath promised you. 

1 1 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, 
that ye love the Lord your God. 

12 Else, if ye do in any wise go back, and 
cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even 
these that remain among you, and shall make 
marriages with them, and go in unto them, and 
they to you : 

13 Know for a certainty that the I-ORD your 
God will no more drive out any of these nations 
from before you ; but they shall be snares and traps 
unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns 
in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good 
land which the Lord your God hath given you. 

14 And, behold, this day I am going the way 
of all the earth : and ye know in all your hearts 
and in all your souls, that not one thing haih 
failed of all the good things which the Lord 
your God spake concerning you; all are come to 
pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed 
thereof 

1 5 Therefore it shall come to pass, thai as all 
good things are come upon you, which the Lord 
your God promised you ; so shall the Lord bring 
upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed 
you from off this good land which the Lord 
your God hath given you. 

16 When ye have trangressed the covenant of 
the Lord your God, which he commanded you, 
and liave gone and served other gods, and bowed 
yourselves to them ; then shall the anger of the 
Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish 
quickly from off the good land which he hath 
given unto you. 



Joshua foresaw evil days for the flock over which he had so faithfully 
watched. He warned them against the corruption of evil association and 
companionship ; and he also assured them of the power of the Lord to 
deliver, if they would but trust Him. 

" We are in many respects like the Israelites. We have a promised land, 
into which we are brought by our hopes in Christ. Our promised land is 
just like Palestine. Its mountains and passes are filled with unsubdued 
inhabitants. They are all about us. We, too, are watched. Often incur- 
sions are suddenly made against us, and we are carried into captivity, or are 



WKDNKSDAY 



687 



humbled in battle. Often, too, the hand ot the Lord is lifted up in our 
behalf, and the battle goes against the inhabitants of the land, and we beat 
them down, and we drive them back, so that they have no more dominion 
over us for a time. We are full of conflicts. Yet we maintain our ground, 
and hold ourselves only by vigilance, as in the presence of a continually 
watching enemy. This great warfare goes on with all true Christians, and 
goes on just in proportion as they are truly Christians." — H. W. Beeclicr. 

C3.0Set Promise. — Be strong and of a good courage ; be not afraid, neither 
be thou dismayed : for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou 
gocst. — Josh. i. 9. 



By Thine unerring Spirit led, 
We shall not in the desert stray ; 

We shall not full direction need, 
Nor miss our providential way ; 



As far from danger as from fear, 
^Vhile love, almighty love, is near. 

— Charles Vi'cshy. 



Watch your way, then, as a cautious traveller; and don't be gazing at 
that mountain or river in the distance, and saying, " How shall I ever get 
over them ? " but keep to the present little inch that is before you, and 
accomplish that in the little moment that belongs to it. The mountain and 
the river can only be passed in the same way ; and, when you come to them, 
you will come to the light and strength that belong to them. — M. A. Kelty. 



THURSDAY. 

Paul's Comfort in Affliction. — 2 Cor. iv. 



1 Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as 
we have received mercy, we faint not ; 

2 But have renounced the hidden things of 
dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor hand- 
ling the word of God deceitfully ; but, by mani- 
festation of the truth, commending ourselves to 
every man's conscience in the sight of God. 

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them 
that are lost : 

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded 
the minds of them which believe not, lest the 
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the 
image of God, should shine unto them. 

5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ 
Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves your servants for 
Jesus' sake. 

6 For God, who commanded the light to 
shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, 
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory 
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

7 But we have this treasure in earthen ves- 
sels, that the excellency of the power may be of 
God, and not of us. 

8 We are troubled on every side, yet not dis- 
tressed; we are perplexed, Ijut not in despair ; 



9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, 
but not destroyed ; 

10 Always bearing about in the body the 
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of 
Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

1 1 For we wljich live are alway delivered 
unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of 
Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal 
flesh. 

1 2 So then death worketh in us, but life in 
you. 

13 We having the same spirit of faith, accord- 
ing as it is written, I believed, and therefore 
have I spoken ; we also believe, and therefore 
speak ; 

14 Knowing that he which raised up the 
Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and 
shall present its with you. 

15 For all things are for your sakes, that the 
abund.int grace might through the thanksgiving 
of many redound to the glory of God. 

16 For which cause we faint not; but though 
our outward man perish, yet the inward 7?ian is 
renewed day by day. 

1 7 For our light affliction, which is but for a 



688 



FIFTY-FIRST WEEK. 



moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
and eternal weight of glory ; 

18 While we look not at the things which 



are seen, but at the things which are not seen , 
for the things which are seen are temporal.; 
but the things which are not seen are eternal. 



" Grievous and heavy trials did Paul very frequently and abundantly sus- 
tain ; but in very deed the Holy Spirit was with him in the wasting of the 
outward man, to renew the inner man from day to day, and by the taste of 
spiritual rest in the affluence of the delights of God, to soften down, by the 
hope of future blessedness, all present hard.ships, and to alleviate all heavy 
trials. Lo, how sweet a yoke of Christ did he bear, and how light a burden ! 
so that he could say that all those hard and grievous sufferings, at the re- 
cital of which every hearer shudders, were a light tribulation^ — Augustine. 

" The cloud of trial while it drops, Christian, is rolling over thy head, and 
then comes fair weather with eternal sunshine of glory. ' Canst thou not 
watch with Christ one hour?'" — Gurnall. 

"Think how completely all the griefs of this mortal life will be compen- 
sated by one age, for instance, of the felicities beyond the grave, and then 
think that one age multiplied ten thousand times is not so much to eternity 
as one grain of sand is to the whole material universe. Think what a state 
it will be to be growing happier and happier still as ages pass away, and yet 
leave something still happier to come ! " — jfohn Foster. 

Closet Promise. — For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. — 2 Cor. 
iv. 17. 



Count each affliction, whether light or grave, 
God's messenger sent down to thee. Do thou 
With courtesy receive him ; rise and bow 

And, ere his sh.idow pass thy threshold, crave 

Permission first his heavenly feet to lave ; 
Then lay before Him all thou hast ; allow 
No cloud of passion to usurp thy brow 

Or mar thy hospitality, no wave 

Of mortal tumult to obliterate 



The soul's marmoreal calmness : grief should 
be 
Like joy, — majestic, equable, sedate ; 

Confirming, cleansing, raising, making free ; 
Strong to consume small trouliles ; to commend 
Great thoughts, grave thoughts, thoughts lasting 
to tlie end. 

— Aubrey de Vere. 



FRIDAY. 

David's Love for Absalom. — 2 Sam. xviii. 24-33. 



24 And David sat between the two gates : and 
the watchman went up to the roof over the gate 
unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and loolced, 
and behold a man running alone. 

25 And the watchman cried, and told the king. 
And the king said. If he he alone, t/iere is tid- 
ilv^f^ in his mouth. And he came apace, and 



26 And the watchman siw another man run- 
ning : and the watchman called unto the porter, 
and said, Behold another man running alone. 
And the king said. He also bringeth tidings. 

27 And the watchman said, Methinketh the 
running of the foremost is like the running of 
Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king 



689 



said, He 7s a good man, and cometh with good 
tidings. 

28 And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the 
king. All is well. And he fell down to the 
earth upon his face before the king, and said, 
Blessed /'e the Lord thy God, which halli de- 
livered up the men that lifted up their hand 
against my lord the king. 

29 And the king said, Is the young man Ab- 
salom safe? And Ahimaaz answered. When 
Joab sent the king's servant, and nie thy servant, 
I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what zV 
was. 

30 And the king said t^a/o /ii'm, Turn aside, 
anci stand here. And he turned aside, and 
stood still. 



31 And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi 
said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the Lord 
hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose 
up ngain>t thee. 

32 And the king said unto Cushi, /s the 
young man Absalom* safe ? And Cushi an- 
swered. The enemies of my lord the king, and 
all that rise against thee to do t/u-e hurt, be 
as i/mi young man is. 

2S ^ And the king was much moved, and 
went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: 
and as he went, thus he said, O my son Ab- 
salom ! my son, my son Absalom ! would God 
I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my 
son ! 



Absalom was a heartless, deliberate traitor and rebel against his father 
David. And yet, when David would send out his captains to fight against 
the traitor, he gives them this message, " Deal gently for my sake with the 
young man, even with Absalom" (2 Sam. xviii. 5). £veu witli Absalovi ! 
What exquisite tenderness in such untender times ! For the sake of his 
people and his kingdom, he must send his rough war-captains against 
him, but the deep love gushes out in the bidding, " Deal gently for my 
sake." 

How much this is like our Heavenly Father ! " Like as a father pitieth 
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." Like as a fatJier — 
but how is that? This story of David and Absalom illustrates it. "An old 
king is seated at the city gate. Not far away a battle is going forward — a 
battle on which hangs the monarch's crown, perhaps his very life. And 
there is panic through the town, the helpless running to and fro, and the 
fearful looking forth of those who think they already see their houses in the 
flames and red slaughter rushing through the streets. But now posting 
towards the city are seen the little clouds, the dust of separate couriers, and 
all rush to hear the tidings. 'All's well ! ' exc-laims the first ;' Victory ! ' 
shouts the second ; but with fierce impatience, demands the monarch, ' Is 
the young man Absalom safe ? ' and, transfixed by the fatal truth in his cry 
of anguish, the cheers of exultation suddenly subside, and as he staggers up 
to his solitary chamber, the joyous crowd fall silent, and even the conquerors 
when they at last return, like the perpetrators of a ciime, slink through the 
gate crestfallen.' — Hamilton. 

Where is \\\&k& patJios equal to verse 33 ? 



Closet Promise. — Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
pitieth them that fear Him ; for He knoweth our frame. He remembereth 
that \vc arc dust. — Psalm ciii. 13, 14. 



690 



FIFTY-FIRST WEEK. 



Breathe Thy pure breath, watching Father, 
On this marred day of Thine, 
This wandering day of mine. 
Be patient with its blur and blot, 
Wash it white of stain and spot ; 



Reproachful eyes ! remember not 
That I have grieved Thee 
On this day of Thine ! 

—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. 



SATURDAY. 

The God of Providence and Grace. — Psalm 



1 Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for 
praise is comely for the upright. 

2 Praise the Lord with harp : sing unto him 
with the psaltery and an instrument of ten 
strings. 

3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully 
with a loud noise. 

4 For the word of the Lord is right; and all 
his works are done in truth. 

5 He loveth righteousness and judgment : the 
earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 

6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens 
made ; and all the host of them by the breath of 
his mouth. 

7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together 
as a heap : he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord : let all the 
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 

9 For he spake, and it was done ; he com- 
manded, and it stood fast. 

10 The Lord bringeth the counsel of the 
heathen to nought : he maketh the devices of 

■ the people of none effect. 

1 1 The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, 
the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 



12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the 
Lord; a«</ihe people whom he hath chosen for 
his own inheritance. 

13 The Lord looketh from heaven; he be- 
holdeth all the sons of men. 

14 From the place of his habitation he looketh 
upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 

15 He fashioneth their hearts aUke ; he con- 
sidereth all their works. 

16 There is no king saved by the multitude of 
a host: a mighty man is not delivered by mucli 
strength. 

17 Ahorse is a vain thing for safety : neither 
shall he deliver any by his great strength. 

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them 
that fear him, upon them that hope in his 
mercy ; 

19 To deliver their soul from denth, and to 
keep them alive in famine. 

20 Our soul waiteth for the Lord : he is our 
help and our shield. 

21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because 
we have trusted in his holy name. 

22 Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, ac- 
cording as we hope in thee. 



The praise of Jehovah is the subject of this sacred song. The keynote is, 
"Rejoice in the Lord." 

"Joy is the soul of praise. To delight ourselves in God is most truly 
to extol Him, even if we let no notes of song proceed from our lips. That 
God is, and that He is such a God, and our God, ours for ever and ever, 
should wake within us an unceasing and overflowing joy. To rejoice in 
temporal comforts is dangerous, to rejoice in self is foolisli, to rejoice in sin 
is fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly. He who would have a double 
heaven must begin below to rejoice like those above. , . . 'For praise is 
comely for the upright' God has an eye to things which are becoming. 
When saints wear their choral robes, they look fair in the Lord's sight. A 
harp suits a blood-washed hand. No jewel more ornamental to a holy face 
than sacred praise. Praise is not comely from unpardoned professional 
singers ; it is like a jewel of gold in a swine's snout. Crooked hearts make 
crooked music, but the upright are the Lord's delight. Praise is the dress 



SATURDAY. 



691 



of saints in heaven, it is meet that they should fit it on below." — C. H. 
Spurgeoti. 

Closet Promise. — And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy 
thy soul in drought. — Isa. Iviii. II. 

Abandon yourself to His care and guidance, as a sheep in the care of a 
shepherd, and trust Him utterly. No matter though you may seem to 
yourself to be in the very midst of a desert, with nothing green about you, 
inwardly or outwardly, and may think you will have to make a long journey 
before you can get into the green pastures. Our Shepherd will turn that 
very place where you are into green pastures, for He has power to make the 
desert rejoice and blossom as a rose. — H. W. S. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — The eyes of all wait upon Thee ; and Thou givest 
them their meat in due season. — Psa. cxlv. 1 5. 

Weekly Proverb. — A man in a Passion rides a mad horse. — Poor 
Richard. 

DAILY BIBLE READING.— SCENES IN THE LIFE OF DAVID. 

Sunday. — David Anointed. — i Sam. xvi. 1-13. 

Monday. — David and His Harp. — I Sam. xvi. 14-23. 

Ttiesday. — David's Battle with Goliath. — i Sam. xvii. 1-58. 

Wednesday. — Jonathan's Wonderful Love. — i Sam. xix. 1-7. 

TJnirsday. — David's Narrow Escapes. — i Sam. xix. 8-24. 

Friday. — David and Jonathan Renew their Covenant. — i Sam. xx. 1-42. 

Saturday. — David Showing Mercy to Saul. — i Sam. xxiv. 1-22. 



A LESSON. 



A dying buttercup cried to the sun : 

" What am I good for ? What have I done 

To make hfe worth the living? 
You hang aloft in the grc.rt blue sky, 
Lighting the vorld with your one big eye, 

And you — you are always giving. 
But I bloom here in the meadow grass; 
The babies smile on me as they pass. 
But my life will soon be done, alas ! 

And virhat was the use of living? " 

The sun looked down on the little sun 
That shone in the grass ; it was only one 



Among a great many others. 
Said he : " It is wrong to thus despair. 
The great All-F"ather placed you there, 

You and your little brothers; 
He meant you should blossom there in the 

. grass 
For the babies to smile on as they pass, 
Or to be in the bunches that each small lass 

Carries to tired mothers. 

" God hung me here in the great blue sky 
To light the world with my one big eye, 
And show men how they're living; 



G92 FIFTY- FIRST WEEK. 

But he juit y^u down on the meadow lot. 1 You do what the dear Lord asks of thee; 

The earth is fairer than if you were not ; Then all will be as it ought to be, 

Beauty and joy you're giving. I And life will be worth the living." 

I must see to the work He has given me ; ^ — Harper's Young People. 

A great wa.ster. — Prov. xviii. 9. 

A father picked up a horseshoe in the road, which his son refused to 
touch, and sold it for three farthings, with which he bought some cherries. 
They journeyed on, and the boy became thirsty and tired. The father 
dropped now and then a cherry, which the son was glad to pick up. When 
tlie last was eaten, the father said, " Look, my son ! If j^ou had chosen to 
stoop once, and pick up a piece of horseshoe, you would not have been 
obliged at last to stoop so often to pick up the cherries." You see, that father 
was trying to teach his son not to waste things ; but to save and economize. 
So, my dear children, you may think, perhaps, that a little spent here, and a 
little there, can be no great matter ; but, remember, many a little makes a 
inickle. Beware of little wastings. Poor Richard has some splendid proverbs. 
Among them are these : " A small leak will sink a great ship ; " and, again, 
"Who dainties love shall beggars prove;" and, moreover, "Fools make 
feasts, and wise men eat them." Now, I would not have you be stingy for 
anything in the world. I want you to be liberal d.x\d benevolent ; but I want 
you, also, to learn to economize and save. Then you will grow up to have 
plenty to give to God and others. 





HOMELESS. 

694 



HOMELESS: OR, NOBODY'S CHILD. 

Alone, in the dreary, pitiless street. 

With my torn old dress and bare cold feet, 

All day I wandered to and fro, 

Hungry and shivering and nowhere to go ; 

The night's coming on in darkness and dread, 

And the chill sleet beating upon my bare head ; 

Oh ! why does the wind blow upon m» so wild ? 

Is it because I'm nobody's child? 

Just over the way there's a flood of light. 
And warmth and beauty, and all things bright; 
Beautiful children, in robes so fair, 
Are caroling songs in rapture there. 
I wonder it they, in their blissful glee. 
Would pity a poor little Ijeggar like me, 
Wandering alone in the merciless street. 
Naked and shivering and nothing to eat. 

Oh ! what shall I do when the night comes down 

In its terrible blackness all over the town ? 

Sliall I lay me down 'neatli the angry sky, 

On the cold hard pavements alone to die ? 

When the beautiful children their prayers have said, 

And mammas have tucked them up snugly in bed. 

No dear mother ever upon me smiled — 

Why is it, I wonder, that I'm nobody's child ? 

No father, no mother, no sister, not one 
In all the world loves me ; e'en the little dogs run 
When I wander too near them ; 'tis wondrous to see 
How everything shrinks from a beggar like me ! 
Perhaps 'tis a dream ; but, sometimes, when I lie 
Gazing far up in the dark blue sky, 
Watching for hours some large bright star, 
I fancy the beautiful gates are ajar, 

And a host of white-robed, nameless things. 

Come fluttering o'er me in gilded wings; 

A hand that is strangely soft and fair 

Caresses gently my tangled hair. 

And a voice like the carol of some wild bird — 

The sweetest voice that was ever heard — 

Calls me many a dear pet name, 

Till my heart and spirits are all aflame ; 

And tells me of such unbounded love. 
And bids me come up to their home above. 
And then, with such iiitiful, sad surprise, 
They look at me with their sweet blue eyes, 
And it seems to me out of the dreary night, 
I am going up to the world of light. 
And away from the hunger and storms so wild — 
I am sure I shall then be somebody's child. 



—Phila H. Case. 



FIFTY-SECOND W^EEK. 



PEARL TEXT. — In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, I would have 
told you. I go to ptepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, 1 will come 
again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. — John xiv. 2, 3. 



Though the circling flight of time may find us 
Far apart, or severed more and more, 

Yet the farewell always lies behind us 
And the welcome always lies before. 



Meanwhile God is leading, surely, slowly, 
Through the shadows with a hand of love, 

To the house where, 'mid the myriads holy. 
Only welcomes wait us both above. 

—Selected. 



Upward steals the life of man, 
As the sunshine from the wall ; 
From the wall into the sky, 



From the roof along the spire ; 
Ah, the souls of those that die 
Are but sunbeams lifted higher. 

— Longfello' 



HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR. 



SUNDAY. 

Matching Experience Ag.\inst Theory. — John ix. 



1 And as Jesiis passed by, he saw a man 
which was blind from his birth. 

2 And his disciples asked him, saying. Mas- 
ter, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that 
he was born blind ? 

3 Jesus answered. Neither hath this man 
sinned, nor his parents : but that the works of 
God should be made manifest in him. 

4 I must work the works of him that sent 
me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no 
man can work. 

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the 
light of the world. 

6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the 
ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he 
anointed the eyes of the blind man with the 
clay, 

7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool 
of Siloam, (which is by interpretation. Sent.) 
He went his way therefore, and washed, and 
came seeing. 

8 \ The neighbours therefore, and they 
which before had seen him that he was blind, 
said, Is not this he that sat and begged? 

9 Some said. This is he : others said. He is 
like him : but he said, I am he. 

TO Therefore said they unto him. How were 
thine eyes opened ? 

II He answered and said, A man that is 
called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, 
and said unto me. Go to the pool of Siloam, 
and wash : and I went and washed, and I re- 
ceived sight. 
(69G) 



12 Then said they unto him. Where is he? 
He said, I know not. 

13 \ They brought to the Pharisees him that 
aforetime was blind. 

14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus 
made the clay, and opened his eyes. 

15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him 
how he had received his sight. He said unto 
them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I 
washed, and do see. 

16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, 
This man is not of God, because he keepeth not 
the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man 
that is a sinner do such miracles ? And there 
was a division among them. 

17 They say unto the blind man again. What 
sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine 
eyes? He said. He is a prophet. 

18 But the Jews did not believe concerning 
him, that he had been blind, and received his 
sight, until they called the parents of him that 
had received his sight. 

19 And they asked them, saying. Is this your 
son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth 
he now see ? 

20 His parents answered them and said. We 
know that this is our son, and that he was born 
blind : 

21 But by what means he now seeth, we 
know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we 
know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall 
speak for himself. 

22 These words spake his parents, because 



697 



they feared the Jews : for the Jews had agreed 
already, that if any man did confess that he was 
Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 

23 Therefore said his parents. He is of age ; 
ask him. 

24 Then again called they the man that was 
blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise : 
we know that this man is a sinner. 

25 He answered and said. Whether he be a 
sinner or no, I know not : one thing I know, 
that, whereas I was blind, now I see. 

26 Then said they to him again, What did he 
to thee ? how opened he thine eyes ? 

27 He answered them, I have told you al- 
ready, and ye did not hear; wherefore would 
ye hear it again ? will ye also be his disciples ? 

28 Then they reviled him, and said. Thou 
art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. 

29 We know that God spake unto Moses: as 
for this fellow, we know not from whence he 
is. 

30 The man answered and said unto them. 
Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know 
not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened 
mine eyes. 

31 Now we know that God heareth not sin- 
ners : but if any man be a worshipper of God, 
and doeth his will, him he heareth. 



32 Since the world began was it not heard 
that any man opened the eyes of one that was 
born blind. 

33 If this man were not of God, he could do 
nothing. 

34 They answered and said unto him, Thou 
wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach 
us? Antl they cast him out. 

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; 
ami when he had forfnd him, he said unto him. 
Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? 

36 He answered and said, Who is he. Lord, 
tliat I might believe on him? 

37 And JesUS said unto him, Thou hast both 
seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 

38 And lie said. Lord, I believe. And he 
worsliipped him. 

39 \ And Jesus said, For judgment I am come 
into this world, that they which see not might 
see ; and that they which see might be made 
blind. 

40 And some of the Pharisees which were 
with him heard these words, and said unto him. 
Are we blind also ? 

41 Jesus said unto them. If ye were blind, ye 
should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; 
therefore your sin remaineth. 



"One thing I know, that, whereas I was bhnd, now I see " (verse 25). 
The priests and Pharisees had their theories, this man had his experience. 
He hiew ; they thought. His was assurance. He stands first upon a pro- 
foundly conscientious knoiv not ; and next upon his own infalHble kiwzv. A 
feeble character might have surrendered ; but in soul this is a most princely 
beggar. 

Can a man be saved and not know it ? Perhaps ; but it is his privilege 
to know. The First Epistle of John is God's inspired treatise on assurance. 
This assurance is presented not as the exceptional privilege of a few Chri.s- 
tians who have unusual strength to climb to Mount Blanc heights, but 
rather as the common duty of all, the sacred mountains in which all Chris- 
tians should continually " abide." 

It will not do to say we have assurance if we have not fniiifulness. The 
latter is the master evidence of Christianity. Benjamin Franklin tried to 
convince the farmers of his day that plaster enriched the soil. All his 
philosophical arguments failed to convince them; so he took plaster and 
formed it into a sentence by the roadside. The wheat coming up through 
these letters was about twice as' rank and green as the other wheat, and the 
farmers could read for months, in letters of living green, the sentence : 
" This has been plastered." 
38 



698 



FIFTY-SECOND WEEK. 



Closet Promise. — Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and 
plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee. — Psalm Ixxxvi. 5. 



Yes, kind Saviour, grieving 

O'er the sad past, 

All my vain hopes leaving. 

Come I at last ; 

Thine— Thine I am, 
O bleeding Lamb ! 
To Thy heart receiving. 
Hold Thou me fast. 



On Thy "Word relying, 

Safe let me rest. 
All my tears now drying 
On thy dear breast ; 
Dawns the sweet day. 
Bright o'er my way, 
Foes and fears all flying, 
Here I am blest. 



-Ray Palmer. 



MONDAY. 

Longing for Zion in a Strange Land. — Psalm xlii. 



1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, 
so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 

2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living 
God : when shall I come and appear before 
God? 

3 My tears have been my meat dny and 
night, while they continually say unio me, 
Where is thy God ? 

4 When I remember these things, I pour out 
my soul in me : for I had gone with the multi- 
tude, I went with them to the house of God, 
with the voice of joy and praise, with a multi- 
tude that kept holyday. 

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? and 
why art thou disquieted in me ? hope thou in 
God : for I shall yet praise him for the help of 
his countenance. 

6 O my God, my soul is cast down within 
me : therefore will I remember thee from the 



land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from 
the hill Mizar. 

7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy 
waierspouts : all thy waves and thy billows are 
gone over me. 

8 Yet the LoRD will command his loving- 
kindness in the daytime, and in the night his 
song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the 
God of my life. 

9 I will say unto God my rock. Why hast 
thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because 
of the oppression of the enemy? 

ID As with a sword in my bones, mine 
enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto 
me. Where is thy God ? 

II Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and 
why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in 
God : for 1 shall yet praise him, who is the 
health of my countenance, and my God. 



This Psalm is " the cry of a man far removed from the outward ordinances 
and worship of God, sighing for the long-loved house of his God ; and at 
the same time it is the voice of a spiritual believer, under depressions, 
longing for the renewal of the divine presence, struggling wath doubts and 
fears, but yet holding his ground by faith in the living God. Most of the 
Lord's family have sailed on the sea which is here so graphically described. 
It is probable that David's flight from Absalom may have been the occasion 
for composing this Maschil." — C. H. Spiirgeon. 

Whenever we are oppressed with sorrows, it will be well to ask ourselves 
that question which David did in the like case twice in one Psalm : " Wliy art 
thou cast down, my soul? and ivhy art thou disqideted within me?" As 
Trapp says, " David chideth David out of the dumps;" and herein he is 
an example for all desponding ones. To search out the cause of our sor- 
row is often the best surgery for grief Pray to God to " search you, and 



MONDAY. 



699 



see if there be any wicked way in you." And, then, may David's blessed 
refrain of faith be yours: " Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, 
who is the health of my countenance, and my God." " Come, my heart, 
look out of the window, borrow the telescopic glass, forecast a little, and 
sweeten thy chamber with sprigs of the sweet herb of hope." 

Closet Promise. — Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? and why art 
thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in God : for I shall yet praise Him, 
who is the health of my countenance, and my God. — Psalm xlii. ii. 

Beware of letting your care degenerate into anxiety and unrest; tossed 
as you are amid the winds and waves of sundry troubles, keep your eyes 
fixed on the Lord, and say, " Oh, my God, I look to Thee alone; be Thou 
my guide, my pilot; " and then be comforted. When the shore is gained, 
who will heed the toil and the storm? And we shall steer safely through 
every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage 
steadfast, and our trust fixed on God. If at times we are somewhat stunned 
by the tempest, never fear ; let us take breath, and go on afresh. Do not 
be disconcerted by the fits of vexation and uneasiness which are sometimes 
produced by the multiplicity of your domestic worries. No, indeed, dearest 
child, all these are but opportunities of strengthening yourself in the loving, 
forbearing graces which our dear Lord sets before us, — Francis de Sales. 



TUESDAY. 

Jonathan and David. — i Sam. xx. 17-23; 35-42. 



17 And Jonathan caused David to swear 
again, because he loved him : for he loved him 
as he loved his own soul. 

18 Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow 
is the new moon : and thou shalt be missed, be- 
cause thy seat will be empty. 

19 And 7uhen thou hast stayed three days, 
then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to 
the place where thou didst hide thyself when 
the business was in hand, and shalt remain by 
the stone Ezel. 

20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side 
thereof, as though I shot at a mark. 

21 And, behold, I will. send a lad, saying. Go, 
find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the 
lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, 
take them; then come thou: for there is i^s.'S.ix. 
to thee, and no hurt ; as the Lord liveth. 

22 But if I say thus unto the young man, Be- 
hold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way : 
for the Lord hath sent thee away. 



23 And as touching the matter which thou 
and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be be- 
tween thee and me for ever. 



35 \ And it came to pass in the morning, 
that Jonathan went out into the field at the time 
appointed with David, and a little lad with 
him. 

36 And he said unto his lad. Run, find out 
now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad 
ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 

37 And when the lad was come to the place 
of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan 
cried after the lad, and said. Is not the arrow 
beyond thee ? 

38 And Jonathan cried after the lad. Make 
^pe«>d, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad 
gathered up the arrows, and came to his 
master. 



700 



FIFTY-SECOND WEEK. 



39 But the lad knew not any thing : only 
Jonathan and David knew the matter. 

40 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his 
lad, and said unto hiiu, Go, carry them to the; 
city. 

41 \ And as soon as the lad \vz.% gone, David 
arose out of a place toward the south, and fell 
on his face to the ground, and bowed himself 



three times : and they kissed one another, and 
wept one with another, until David exceeded. 

42 And Jonatlian said to David, Go in peace, 
forasmuch as we have s\\ orn both of us in the 
name of the Lord, saying, The Tord be be- 
tween me and thee, and between my seed and 
thy seed for ever. And lie arose and departed : 
and Jonathan went into the city. 



This was the last meeting and the final leaving of two young men whose 
friendship has been a proverb for nearly thirty centuries. " There are part- 
ings in every life ; the ties of yesterday are loosened to-day, and will be 
broken to-^morrow. We are closely bound to each other by the strong 
bonds of circumstances one moment, and the next we are severed and each 
goes on his way to strive or to suffer, and to conquer or to fall, alone. The 
hour of parting came to David and Jonathan, and nought remained but this, 
'Jonathan said to David, Go in peace.' There was one thought which took 
away some of the bitterness of that moment and allowed them to go each on 
his way with a firm step and a strong heart, for theirs had been no light and 
trifling friendship, which had sprung up in a day and might be dissolved in 
an hour, but a serious, manly, steadfast love, rooted in a common faith and 
held together by a common object animating their lives; and therefore the 
one could say to the other, ' Go in peace, forasinuch as we have sworn both 
of us in the name of the Lord.' One might go back to the haunted house, 
where Saul would curse and rave, and the other might wander abroad in 
the wilderness ; but come what might, they were both prepared for good or 
evil fortune. Both had sworn to put their trust in the living God." — A. 
jfessopp. 

Closet Promise. — The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge 
in times of trouble. — Psalm ix. o. 



I have a Friend, a precious Friend, unchanging, 

wise, and true. 
The Chief among ten thousand ! O, I wish you 

knew Him too ! 
Encompassed by a host of foes, weary in heart 

and limb, 



I know who waits to soothe my woe ; have you 

a Friend like Him ? 
He comforts me. He strengthens me ; how can 

I then repine ? 
He loveth me ! This faithful Friend in life and 

death is mine. 

— Anna Shipton. 



WEDNESDAY. 

The Beginning of Miracles. — John ii. i-ii. 

I And the third day there wns a marriage in 1 2 And both Jesus was called, and his dis- 
Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was ciples, to the marriage, 
there : 




petEH delivered from prison. 

Peter therefore was kept in prison : but prayer was made without ceasing of 
the church unto God for him.— ^(A xii. 5. 



WEDNESDAY. 



703 



_t And when they wanted wine, the mother 
of'j":sus saith unto him, They have no wine. 

4 Jesus saith unto her. Woman, what have I 
to do wilh thee ? mine hour is not yet come. 

5 His mother saith unto the servants, What- 
soever he saith unlo you, do it. 

6 And there were set there six waterpots of 
stone, after the manner of the purifying of the 
Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 

7 Jesus saith unto them. Fill the waterpots 
with water. And they tilled them up to the 
brim. 

8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, 



and bear unto the governor of the feast. And 
they bare it. 

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the 
water that was made wine, and knew not whence 
it was, (but the servants which drew the water 
knew,) the governor of the feast called the 
bridegroom, 

10 And saith unto him, Every man at tlie he- 
ginning doth set forth j;ood wine; and when 
men have well drunk, then that which is worse ; 
but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 

11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in 
Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory ; 
and his disciples believed on him. 



" Every sin smiles in the first address, and carries light in the face and 
honey in the lip, but ' when we have well drunk, then comes that wliicji is 
worse ' — a whip with six strings, fears and terrors of conscience, and shame 
and di.spleasure and a captive disposition, and diffidence in the day of death. 
But when, ' after the manner of purifying of the Christians,' we fill our water- 
pots with water, watering our couch with tears, and moistening our cheeks 
with the perpetual distillations of repentance, then Christ turns our water 
into wine — first penitents and then communicants, fir.st waters of sorrow and 
then the wine of the chalice, first the justifications of correction and then the 
sanctifications of the sacrament, and the effects of the Divine power, joy and 
peace and serenity, hopes full of confidence, and confidence without shame, 
and boldness without presumption ; for Jesus keeps the best wine until the 
last, not only because of the direct reservations of the highest joys till the 
nearer approaches of glory, but also because our relishes are higher after a 
long fruition than at the first essays ; such being the nature of grace, that it 
increases in relish as it does in fruition, every part of grace being new duty 
and new reward." — Jereiny Taylor. 

Closet Promise. — My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength 
of my heart, and my portion for ever. — Psalm Ixxiii. 26. 



" Thus saith the Lord, ' Thy days of health are 

And, like the mist, my vigor fled away. 
Till but a feeble shadow was remaining — 

A fragile form fast hastening to decay. 
Then sighs of sorrow in my soul would rise, 



Then rushing tears would overflow my eyes ; 
But I beheld Thee, O my Lord and God, 
Beneath the cross lay down the shepherd's rod : 
Is this Thy will, good Lord ? The strife is 
o'er ; 
Thy servant weeps no more." 



THURSDAY. 

The Integrity of the Upright.- 



I A false balance is abomination 
Lord : but a just weight is his delight. 



2 When pride cometh, then Cometh shame ; 
but with the lowly is wisdom. 



ro4 



FIFTY-SECOND WEEK. 



3 The integrity of the upright shall guide 
them : but the perverseness of transgressors shall 
destroy them. 

4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath : but 
righteousness delivereth from death. 

5 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct 
his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own 
wickedness. 

6 The righteousness of the upright shall 
deliver them: but transgressors .shall be taken 
in their own naughtiness. 

7 When a wicked man dieth, /:is expectation 
shall perish : and the hope of unjust niett per- 
isheth. 

8 The righteous is delivered out of trouble, 
and the wicked cometh in his stead. 

9 A hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his 
neighbour : but through knowledge shall the 
just be delivered. 

10 When it goeth well with the righteous, the 
city rejoiceth : and when the wicked perish, 
thei-e is shouting. 

1 1 By the blessing of the upright the city is 
exalted : but it is overthrown by the mouth of 
the wicked. 

12 He that is void of wisdom despiseth his 
neighbour : but a man of understanding holdeth 
his peace. 

13 A talebearer revealeth secrets : but he that 
is of a faithful spirit concealcth the matter. 

14 Where no counsel is, the people fall : but 
in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. 

15 He that is surety for a stranger shall smart 
for it : and he that hateth suretiship is sure. 

16 A gracious woman retaineth honour: and 
strong men retain riches. 

17 The merciful man doeth good to his own 
soul : but he that is cruel troubleth his own 
flesh. 



18 The wicked worketh a deceitful work: 
but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a 
sure reward. 

19 As righteousness tendeth to life; so he that 
pursueth &\'\\ piirsueth it to his own death. 

20 They that are of a froward heart are 
abomination to the Lord: but sicch as are up- 
right in their way are his delight. 

21 Thoiigit hand join in hand, the wicked 
shall not be unpunished : but the seed of the 
righteous shall be delivered. 

22 As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is 
a fair woman which is without discretion. 

23 The desire of the righteous is only good : 
iiit the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 

24 There is that scattereth, and yet increas- 
eth ; and the>-e is that withholdeth more than is 
meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 

25 The liberal soul shall be made fat : and 
he that watereth shall be watered also him- 
self. 

26 He that withholdeth corn, the people shall 
curse him : but blessing sliall be upon the head 
of him that selleth it. 

27 He that diligently seeketh good procureth 
favour : but he that seeketh mischief, it shall 
come unto him. 

28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall : 
but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. 

29 He that troubleth his own house shall in- 
herit the wind : and the fool shall be servant to 
the wise of heart. 

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life ; 
and he that winneth souls is wise. 

31 Behold, the righteous shall bcTecompensed 
in the earth : much more the wicked and the 
sinner. 



''Tlie integrity of the upriglit shall guide thevt " (verse 3). " Some persons 
are said to stand in their own light. Are there not some of you who have 
apparently stood in j^our own hght? Are there not men whom you have 
known from their youth up, who were not overscrupulous in business 
affairs, who became millionaires, and rose to eminence and power, and now 
stand high and are prospered? And do you say, ' If I could have got over 
some prejudices that I had, so as not to have been so afraid of departing a 
little from the line of rectitude, I might have been better off than I am now ; 
but I stood in my own light in my youth, and have been struggling against 
the current ever since?' But have you not maintained your conscience, 
yoiu' love of truth, your aspirations after a higher and better life ? ' Yes, I 
have those still. But then I have no funds, I have no homestead ; I 
have nothing before me.' Nothing before you! You have the king- 
dom of God Almighty before you. You have all glory before you. 



T H U R vS D A Y. 



705 



If you have saved truth, and conscience, and love, and faith, do not envy- 
anybody. The wealth of the world will pass away very soon, but what 
bankruptcy can come over the exchequer of God ? And you are heirs of 
God. You did not stand in your own light when you refused to yield to 
temptation." — H. W. Beechcr. 

Closet Promise. — In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall 
direct thy paths. — Prov. iii. 6. 



Just as God leads me I would go ; 

I would not ask to choose my way, 
Content with what He will bestow, 

Assured He will not let me stray. 



So as He leads my path I make, 

And step by step I gladly take, 

A child in Him confiding. 

— Lampertus, 1625. 



FRIDAY. 

The Rechabites. — Jer. xxxv. 



1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from 
the Lord, in the days of Jehoiakim the son of 
Josiah king of Judah, saying, 

2 Go unlo the house of the Rechabites, and 
speak unto them, and bring them into the house 
of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give 
them wine to drink. 

3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, 
the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all 
his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; 

4 And I brought them into the house of the 
Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, 
the son of Igdaliali, a man of God, which -Mits 
by the chamber of the princes, which was above 
the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the 
keeper of the door : 

5 And I set before the sons of the house of 
the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups ; and 
I said unto them, Drink ye wine. 

6 But they said. We will drink no wine: for 
Jonadab the son of Rechab our father com- 
manded us, saying. Ye shall drink no wine, 
neither ye, nor your sons for ever : 

7 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, 
nor plant vineyard, nnr have any : but all your 
days ye shall dwell in tents ; that ye may live 
many days in the land where ye be strangers. 

8 Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab 
the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath 
charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, 
our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; 

9 Nor to build houses for us to dwell in ; 
neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed : 

ID But we have dwelt in tents, and have 
obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab 
our father commanded us. 

II But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrez- 
zar king of Babylon came up into the land, that 
we said. Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for 



fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear 
*of the army of the Syrians : so we dwell at Je- 
rusalem. 

12 iy Then came the word of the Lord unto 
Jeremiah, saying, 

13 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of 
Israel ; t;o and tell the men of Judah and the 
inhaliitaiits of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive 
instruction to hearken to my words ? saith the 
Lord. 

14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, 
that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, 
are performed ; for unto this day they drink 
none, but obey their fatlier's commandment: 
notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising 
early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto 
me. 

151 have sent also unto you all my servants 
the prophets, rising up early and sending them, 
saying, Return ye now every man from his evil 
way, and amend your doings, and go not after 
other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in 
the land which I have given to you and to your 
fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor 
hearkened unto nie. 

16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of 
Rechab have performed the commandment of 
their father, which he commanded them ; but 
this people hath not hearkened unto me : 

17 Tlierefore thus saiih the Lord God of 
hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring 
upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Je- 
rusalem all the evil that I have pronounced 
against them: because I have spoken unto them, 
but they have not heard ; and I have called unto 
them, but they have not answered. 

18 ^ And Jeremiah siid unto the house of 
the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
the God of Israel ; Because ye have obeyed the 



706 



FIFTY-SECOND WEEK. 



commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept 
all his precepts, and done according unto all that 
he hath commanded you ; 

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, 



the God of Israel ; Jonadab the son of Rechab 
shall not want a man to stand before me for 



The Rechabites were temperance men. Jonadab, their father, was a man 
of exalted piety. Living in a very wicked age, this godly man determined 
to guard those over whom he possessed an influence from the evils of intoxi- 
cation, at that time prevalent among the Jewish people. They appear to 
have followed the counsels of their father; for, on this occasion, when wine 
was placed before them, and they were invited to drink, they replied : " We 
will drink no wine : for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded 
us, saying. Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons forever. We 
have obeyed the voice of Jonadab our father in all that he hath charged us, 
to drink no wine, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters." Noble 
stand ! Would God all Christians would heed it ! 

A lady, who opposed the strict temperance principles of Gov. Briggs, of 
Massachusetts, -while at a party, at his suggestion undertook to think over 
the families of her acquaintance, and note the effects of intemperance among 
them. After half an hour she returned, her eyes filled with tears, exclaim- 
ing, " Oh, Gov. Briggs ! how could you ask me to do such a thing at a party ! 
I am appalled ; it is so dreadful to find that I do not know a familj^ that does 
not number one victim; and some have had all their brightest and best fall 
by it — fathers, hu.sbands, children. It is too dreadful to think of! I would 
not have believed it. You are quite right ; and I will never ask you to drink 
wine, nor ever call you fanatical for not taking it." 

Closet Promise. — In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He 
is able to succour them that are tempted. — Heb. ii. 18. 



Jesu, victor over sin, 
Help me now the fight to win. 
Thou didst vanquish once, I know, 
Him V, ho seeks my overthrow; 
So to Thee my faith will cleave. 



And her hold will never leave. 
Till the weary battle's done, 
And the final triumph won ; 
For I, too, through Thee may win, 
Victor over death and sin." 



SATURDAY. 

The Grateful Retrospect." — Psalm xviii. 



1 I will love thee, O Lord, ray strength. 

2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and 
my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom 
I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my 
salvation, «hi/ my high tower. 

3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy 
to be praised : so shall I be saved from mine 
enemies. 



4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and 
the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 

5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: 
the snares of death prevented me. 

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, 
and cried unto my God ; he heard my voice out 
of his temple, and my cry came before him, 
even into his ears. 



SATURDAY. 



707 



7 Then the earth shook and trembled ; tlie 
foundations also of the hills moved and were 
shaken, because he was wroth. 

8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, 
and fire out of his mouth devoured : coals were 
kindled by it. 

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came 
down : and darkness ci/i!S under his feet. 

10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: 
yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 

1 1 He made darkness his secret place ; his 
pavilion round about him icere dark waters aiiJ 
thick clouds of the skies. 

12 At the brightness /Ant -uas before liim his 
thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of 
fire. 

13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, 
and the Highest gave his voice ; hail stones and 
coals of fire. 

14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered 
them ; and he shot out lightnings, and discom- 
fited them. 

15 Then the channels of waters were seen, 
and the foundations of the world were dis- 
covered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of 
the breath of thy nostrils. 

16 He sent from above, he look me, he drew 
me out of many waters. 

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, 
and from them which hated me : for they were 
too strong for me. 

18 They prevented me in the day of my 
calamity : but the Lord was my stay. 

19 He brought me forth also into a large 
place ; he delivered me, because he delighted 
in me. 

20 The Lord rewarded me according to my 
righteousness ; according to the cleanness of my 
hands hath he recompensed me. 

21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, 
and have not wickedly departed from my God. 

22 For all his judgments were before me, and 
I did not put away his statutes from me. 

23 I was also upright before him, and I kept 
myself from mine iniquity. 

24 Therefore hath the Lord recompensed 
me according to my righteousness, according to 
the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. 

25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself 
merciful ; with an upright man thou wilt shew 
thyself upright ; 

26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself 
pure ; and with the froward thou wilt shew thy- 
self froward. 

27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; 
but wilt bring down high looks. 

28 For thou wilt light my candle : the Lord 
my God will enlighten my darkness. 



1 29 For by thee I have run through a troop ; 
j and by my God have I leaped over a wall. 
j 30 As for God, his way is perfect : the word 
of the Lord is tried: he is z. buckler to all 
j those that trust in him. 

31 For who is God save the Lord? or who 
is a rock save our God ? 

32 It is God that girdelh me with strength, 
and maketh my way perfect. 

T,;^ He maketh my feet like hinds' y^^/, and 
setteth me upon my high places. 

34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a 
bow of steel is broken by mine arms. 

35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy 
salvation : and thy right hand hath holden me 

. up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. 

36 Thou h.ist enlarged my steps under me, 
that my feet did not slip. 

37 I have pursued mine enemies, and over- 
taken ihem : neither did I turn again till they 
were consumed. 

38 I have wounded them that they were not 
able to ri^e: they are fallen under my feet. 

39 For thou hast girded me with strength 
unto the battle : thou hast subdued under me 
those that rose up against me. 

40 Tliou hast also given me the necks of mine 
enemies ; that I might destroy them that hate 
me. 

41 They cried, but there was none to save 
t/iem : even unto the Lord, but he answered 
them not. 

42 Then did I beat them small as the dust 
before the wind : I did cast them out as the dht 
in the streets. 

43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings 
of the people ; and thou hast made me the 
head of the heathen : a people whom I have 
not known shall serve me. 

44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall 
obey me : the strangers shall submit themselves 
unto me. 

45 The strangers shall fade away, and be 
afraid out of their close places. 

46 The Lord liveth ; and blessed be my 
Rock; and let the God of my salvation be ex- 
alted. 

47 // is God that avengeth me, and subdueth 
the people under me. 

48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: 
yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up 
against me : thou hast delivered me from the 
violent man. 

49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O 
Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises 
unto thy name. 

50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king ; 
and -sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, 
and to his seed for evermore. 



Like Addison's hymn beginning, " When all thy mercies, O my God," 
this Psalm is the song of a grateful heart overwhelmed with a retrospect 



708 



F I F T Y - S E C O N D WEEK, 



of the manifold and marvellous mercies of God. Though placed among 
the first of the Psalms, it was penned among the last, as the preface assures 
us, and is left as the epitome of the general history of David's life. It is 
twice recorded in the Scripture (2 Sam. xxii., and in this book of Psalms). 
" Holy David, being near the shore, here looks on his former dangers and 
deliverances with a thankful heart, and writes this Psalm to bless the Lord : 
as if each of you that are grown into years should review your lives and 
oberve the wonderful goodness and providence of God towards you ; and 
then sit down and write a modest memorial of his most remarkable mercies, 
for the comfort of yourselves and posterity ; an excellent practice. What 
a comfort would it be for you to read how good your God was to your 
father or grandfather, that are dead and gone ! So would your children 
rejoice in the Lord upon the reading of his goodness to you ; and you can- 
not have a better pattern for this than holy David, who wrote this Psalm 
when he was three-score and seven years old ; when he outlived most of his 
troubles, and almost ready for his journey to his Father in heaven, he 
resolves to leave this good report of him upon earth." — Richard Steele. 

Closet Promise. — Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the 
Lord. — Hosea vi. 3. 



Open before my wondering eyes, 
Great God, life's mystic volume lies; 
I wait to see Thy hand define 
The fadeless record of each line. 

No leaf once closed may I retrace 
To add a word, or word erase ; 
Nor may I guess the joy or gloom 
Inscribed on pages yet to come. 

The past in light I clearly count. 
Judge their intent, tell their amount; 
But hid in clouds I cannot see 
The history yet awaiting me. 



But knowing this, that, great or small, 
My Father's hand will write it all ; 
I trust the future, and submit 
To what is past — what's writ is writ. 

But hear this prayer, O Power Divine ! 

That lift'st each leaf, and writ'st each line. 
That where my hands have left a stain 
Christ's blood may make all pure again. 

Where the last sentence hath its end 
In mercy. Maker, Father, Friend, 

Write for the sake of Thy dear Son, 
" Servant of Jesus Christ, well done ! " 
— The Rev. Charles R Deems, D. D. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 

Breakfast Motto. — What shall I render unto the Lord for all His 
benefits toward me ? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the 
name of the Lord. — Psalin cxvi. 12, 13. 

Weekly Proverb.— There are three things extremely hard — Steel, a 
Diamond, and to know One's self — Poor Richard. 



DAILY BIBLE READING.— BEAUTIFUL SHORT PSALMS. 

Sunday. — The Safety of the Godly. — Psalm cxxi. 



THE CHILDREN'S CORNER. 



709 



Monday. — They that Trust in God. — Psalm cxxv. 

Tuesday. — The Church. — Psalm cxxvi. 

Wednesday. — The Virtue of God's Blessing. — Psalm cxxviii. 

Thursday. — The Communion of Saints. — Psalm cxxxiii. 

Friday. — The Lord Reigneth. — Psalm xciii. 

Saturday. — David's Confidence in God. — Psalm xxiii. 



MOTHER'S RULES. 



Hang your hat on the staple. 
Was dear mother's rule ; 

And then 'twill be handy 
When going to schooL 

A place for each thing, 

And each thing in its place ; 

You can go in the dark 
And each article trace. 

Whatever is worth doing 
Is worth doing well ; 

Take time for your sewmg, 
Your work will excel. 

Be quiet and steady, 

Haste only makes waste; 

Steps hurriedly taken 
Must needs be retraced. 

A bad habit cured 

Is a good one begun ; 



The beginning make right, 
And your work is half done. 

What you should do to-day 

You must never postpone; 
Delay steals your moments 

And makes you a drone. 

Never say, " I cannot," 

But " I'll try, try again ; " 
Let this be at all times 

Your cheerful refrain. 

Be content with your lot; 

Be bright as the sun ; 
Be kind and be true, 

All wickedness shun. 

Love God and your neighbor, 

The Golden Rule keep ; 
Walk daily with Jesus, 

And in His love sleep. 

—Selected. 



He is an honorable man. — i Sain. ix. 6. 

This was spoken of Samuel in the Bible. There is nothing more manly 
than a boy of honor. I read an article some time ago, entitled, ''Honor 
Among the Bootblacks!' A reporter called to a little bootblack near the City 
Hall, in New York, to give him a shine. The little fellow came rather 
slowly, and planted his box down under the reporter's foot. Before he 
could get his brushes out another larger boy ran up, and calmly pushing the 
little one aside said, " Here, you go sit down, Jimmy." The reporter at 
once became indignant at what he took to be a piece of outrageous bully- 
ing, and sharply told the new-comer to clear out. " Oh, dat's all right, boss," 
was the reply. " I'm only goin' do do it for him ; j-ou see he's been sick in 
the hospital for nior'n a month, and can't do much work yet, so us boys 
all turn in and give him a lift when we can, savy ? " " Is that so, Jinmiy ? " 
asked the reporter, turning to the smaller boy. " Yes, sir," wearily replied 
the boy, and as he looked up the pallid, pinched face could be discerned 
even through the grime that covered it. " He does it fur me, if you'll let 



710 FIFTY SECOND WEEK. 

him." " Certainly, go ahead," and as the bootblack ph'ed the brush, the 
reporter pHed him with questions. "You say all the boys help him in this 
way ? " " Yes, sir. When they aint got no job themselves, and Jimmy gets 
one, they turns in and helps hini, 'cause he aint very strong yet, ye see." 
"What percentage do you charge him on a job?" " Hey!" queried the 
youngster. " I don't know what you mean. " " I mean, what part of the 
money do you give Jimmy, and how much do you keep out of it ? " " You 
bet yer life I don't keep none ; I aint no such sneak as that." " So you 
give it all to. him, do you?" " Yes, I do. All the boys give up what they 
gets on his job. I'd like to catch any feller sneaking it on a sick boy, I 
would." The shine being completed, the reporter handed the urchin a 
quarter, saying, " I guess you're a pretty good fellow ; so you keep ten cents, 
and give the rest to Jimmy there." " Can't' do it, sir; it's his customer. 
Here, Jim." He threw him the coin and was off like a shot after a customer 
for himself, a veritable rough diamond. 

Now, boys, that is a good example for all of us. May it be said of each 
of us — " He is an honorable man," or boy. 



THE LABORER'S NOON-DAY HYMN. 



Up to the throne of God is borne 
The voice of praise at early morn ; 
And He accepts the punctual hymn, 
Sung as the light of day grows dim. 

Nor will He turn His ear aside 
From holy offerings at noon-tide. 
Then, here reposing, let us raise 
A song of gratitude and praise. 

What though our burden be "not light, 
"We need not toil from morn to night ; 
The respite of the mid-day hour 
Is in the thankful creature's power. 

Blest are the moments, doubly blest. 
That, drawn from this our hour of rest, 
Are with a ready heart bestow'd 
Upon the service of our God! 

Why should we crave a hallowed spot? 
An altar is in each man's cot, 
A church in every grove that spreads 
Its living roof above our heads. 

Look up to heaven ! th' industrious sun 
Already half his race hath run : 
He cannot halt nor go astray, 
But our immortal spirits may. 

Lord ! since'his rising in the east, 
If we have falter'd or transgress'd, 
Guide from Thy love's abundant source 
What yet remains of this day's course. 

Help with Thy grace through life's short day, 
Our upward and our downward way ; 
And glorify for us the west, 
When we shall sink to final rest. 

— William Wordsworth. 



(713) 



SPECIAL DAYS. 



NEW YEAR'S E>AY. 

Psalm xc. 



1 Lord, thou hast been our dwellingplace in 
all generations. 

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or 
ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art 
God. 

3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, 
Return, ye children of men. 

4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as 
yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the 
night. 

5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood ; 
they are as a sleep': in the morning M^^ are like 
grass zvhich growelh up. 

6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth 
up ; in the evening it is cut down, and wither- 
eth. 

7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and 
by ihy wrath are we troul)led. 

8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our 
secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 

9 For all our days are passed away in thy 
wrath : we spend our years as a tale that is told. 



10 The days of our years ur.? threescore years 
and ten ;. and if by reason of strenj^th they be 
fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and 
sorrow ; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 

11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? 
even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. 

• 12 So teach us\.o number our days, that we 
may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 

13 Return, O Lord, how long? and let it 
repent thee concerning thy servants. 

14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy ; that we 
may rejoice and be glad all our days. 

15 Make us glad according to the days wherein 
thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we 
have seen evil. 

16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and 
thy glory unto their children. 

17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God 
be upon us ; and establish thou the work of our 
hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands 
establish thou it. 



" The New Year is not present with us, only a new day. So it will be 
continually ; we shall see but one day at a time. ... If each day is lived 
aright the whole year will be right ; if each day is wrong the year will be 
all wrong. . . . Each day is a white page to be written ; write it beautifully, 
and the book of the year will be beautiful." — J. H. Bliss. 

" I care not what the approaching year brings if it only results in good. 
I care not though it may be undriven like a chariot whose driver has been 
thrown to the ground, if God only sits and holds the coursers of Time. If 
God is in the chariot, I care not what else is in it or around it. If God will 
take care of my thoughts and feelings ; if He will mark out my ways and 
lead me in them ; if He will appoint my burdens ; if He will send me stores 
sweetened with His love; if He will give to my faith the vision of eternal 
life; if He will touch and refine my affections ; if He will direct my aspira- 
tions toward the heavenly estate — if He will do these things I shall be cbn- 
tent, and shall rejoice in whatever scenes I may be called to pass through. 
I submit to the divine will. I take myself, my person, my life, my hope, 
my liousehold, my companions in trouble and in labors of love, my children, 
my time, my influence, my relations to every work of God in the body, — I 
(714) 



NEW YEAR'S DAY. 715 

take them all, and say, ' By Thy grace, O God, in the past, I have been what 
I have been, and by Thy grace I desire, in the future, to be what Thou wilt 
have me to be. Glorify Thyself, and I shall be satisfied.' " — H. IV. Beecher. 
" Let us pray for a new birth, not as one experience, but as the perpetual 
experience of our lives ; for such nearness to our God that every day He 
shall give us something more of Himself, be something more to us, so that 
being ourselves forever new, the whole world may forever have richness and 
abundance and variety and beauty and interest and joy and education to 
give us, as long as we live. So may we enter upon a new year with the 
promise of a new life." — Phillips Brooks, D. D. 

Closet Promise.— And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah- 
jireh. — Gen. xxii. 14. 

Jehovah-jireh means " The Lord will provide." 

" Write deep in your heart this New Year's Day this word of sublime 
confidence, Jehovah-jireh. It tells you that you can trust God always, that 
no promise of His ever fails, that He doeth all things well, that out of all 
seeming loss and destruction of human hopes He brings blessing. You 
have not passed this way heretofore. There will be sorrows and joj-s, 
failures and successes, this year, just as there were last year. You cannot 
forecast individual experiences. You cannot see a step before your feet. 
Yet Jehovah-jireh calls you to enter the new year with calm trust. It bids 
you put away all anxieties and forebodings — ' The Lord will provide.' " — J. 
R. Miller, D. D. 

Weil I know I This same grand year is ever at the doors. 

That unto him who works and feels he works, I — Alfred Tennyson. 

GOOD FRIDAY. 

Matt, xxvii. 35-50. 

35 And they crucified him, and parted his : 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, 
garments, casting lots : that it might be fulfilled | and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If 
which was spoken by the prophet. They parted j thou be the Son of God, come down from the 
my garments among them, and upon my vesture cross. 

did they cast lots. I 41 Likewise also the chief priest mocking 

36 And sitting down, they watched him there ; him, with the scribes and elders, said, 

37 And set up over his head his accusation j 42 He saved others ; himself he can not save, 
written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF \ If he be the King of Israel, let him now come 
THE JEWS. I down from the cross, and we will believe him. 

38 Then were there two thieves crucified with ! 43 He trusted in God ; let him deliver hi 



him ; one on the right hand, and another on the 
left. 

39 And they that passed by reviled him, wag- 
ging their heads, 



now, if he will have him ; for he said, I am the 
Son of God. 

44 The thieves also, which were crucified with 
him, cast the same in his teeth. 



716 SPECIAL DAYS. 



45 Now from the sixth hour there was dark- 
ness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with 
a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? 
that is to say. My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me ? 

47 Some of them that stood there, when they 
heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 



48 And straightway one of them ran, and took 
a sponge, ai d filled it with vinegar, and put it on 
a reed, and gave him to drink. 

49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether 
Elias will come to save him. 

50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud 
voice, yielded up the ghost. 



The literal cross on which Christ suffered was but two rough pieces of 
common wood put together, yet it " hfted up" Him who is to "draw all 
men unto Him." That cross is the real centre and attraction of God's 
universe. It has consecrated all suffering in a holy cause. It has become 
the recognized symbol of all moral power and all moral victory in the 
Kingdom of Righteousness. 

" We should notice : I. That these sufferings of our blessed Lord were 
most real; that He did indeed suffer all this, most truly; that in that body 
which ' was prepared ' for Him, He did bear every possible sting of physical 
agony; that He was held up in this fierce strife with pain, until He had 
explored all it's* secrets. His mind and human spirit were really the seat of 
every storm of deepest sorrow which the heart of man could know. II. 
Next to it we should ever bear in mind, beneath the cross, that all these 
sufferings were for us. We must ' look on Him whom we have pierced.' 
III. That these sufferings were needful. It becomes us to speak with the 
deepest reverence when we say anything is rendered needful by the character 
of God. Rather is it the truest reverence to see that thus it must have 
been, if man were to be redeemed at all ; that-there was, in the very perfection 
of God's character — the one fixed centre of all being — a necessity for this 
infinite suffering ; that the nature which had sinned must pay the price of 
sinning, must bear the wrath it had deserved ; that without it there could 
not be, in the world of God's holy and righteous love, forgiveness and 
restoration for the fallen and the separated ; ' that Christ must needs have 
suffered.' " — Bishop Samuel Wilberforce. 

" The true cross of the Redeemer was the sin and sorrow of the world — 
/haf was what lay heavy on His heart ; and that is the cross we shall share 
with Him, that is the cup we must drink of with Him, if we would have 
any part of that divine love which is one with His sorrow."— G^^^r^^ Eliof. 

" When I see my Saviour hanging in so forlorn a fashion upon the cross ; 
His head drooping down. His temples bleeding with thorns, His hands and 
feet with the nails, and H^is side with the spear; His enemies round about 
Him, mocking at His shame, and insulting over His impotence; how should 
I think any otherwise of Him, than, as Himself complaineth, forsaken of 
His Father? But, when again I turn mine eyes, and see the sun darkened, 




ST. PAUL AND THE JAILER. 

Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? — Acts xvi. 30. 

718 



GOOD FRIDAY, 



719 



the earth quaking, the rocks rent, the graves opened, the thief confessing to 
give witness to His Deity ; and when I see so strong a guard of providence 
over Him, that all His malicious enemies are not able so much as to break 
one bone of that body, which seemed carelessly neglected : I cannot but 
wonder at His glory and safety. God is ever near, though oft unseen; and, 
if He wink at our distress, He sleepeth not. The sense of others must not 
be judges of His presence and care ; but our faith. What care I, if the 
"world give me up for miserable, while I am under His .secret protection? 
O Lord, since Thou art strong in our weakness, and present in our sinless- 
ness, give but as much comfort in my sorrow, as Thou givest me security, 
and at my worst I shall be well." — Hall. 

Closet Promise. — Who for the joy that was set before Him endured 
the cross, despising the shame. — Heb. xii. 2. 



One smile of His shall be enough to heal 

The wounds of man's neglect ; and He will 

sigh. 
Pitying the trouble which that sigh shall cure, 
And He will speak — speak in the desolate night, 
In the dark night : " For Me a thorny crown 



Men wove, and nails were driven in My hands 
And feet : there was an earthquake, and I died ; 
I died, and am alive for evermore. 
I died for thee, for thee I am alive. 
And My humanity doth mourn for tliee." 

— Jeatt Ingelow. 



A prayer by Jeremy Taylor : " Thus, O blessed Jesu, Thou didst finish 
Thy holy passion with pain and anguish so great, that nothing could be 
greater than it, except Thyself and Thy own infinite mercy : and all this for 
man, even for me, than whom nothing could be more miserable, Thyself 
only excepted, who becamest so by undertaking our guilt and our punish- 
ment. And now, Lord, who hast done so much for me, be pleased only to 
make it effectual to me, that it may not be useless and lost as to any 
particular, lest I become eternally miserable, and lost to all hopes and 
possibilities of comfort. All this deserves more love than I have to give : 
but, Lord, do Thou turn me all into love, and all my love into obedience, 
and let my obedience be without interruption, and then I hope Thou wilt 
accept such a return as I can make. Make me to be something that Thou 
delightest in, and Thou shalt have all that I am or have from Thee, even 
whatsoever Thou makest fit for Thyself Teach me to live wholly for my 
Saviour Jesus, and to be ready to die for Jesus, and to be conformable to 
His life and sufferings, and to be united to Him by inseparable unions, and 
to own no passions but what may be servants to Jesus and disciples of His 
institution. O sweetest Saviour, clothe my soul with Thy holy robe ; hide 
my sins in Thy wounds, and bury them in Thy grave ; and let me rise in 
the life of grace, and abide and grow in it, till I arrive at the kingdom of 
glory. Amen." 



-•20 



SPECIAIv DAYS. 



EASTER. 



Matt, xxviii. 



1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to 
dawn toward the first i/ay of the week, came 
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the 
sepulchre. 

2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake : 
for the angel of the Lord descended from 
heaven, and came and rolled back the stone 
from the door, and sat upon it. 

3 His countenance was like lightning, and 
his raiment white as snow : 

4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, 
and became as dead me/i. 

5 And the angel answered and said unto the 
women. Fear not ye : for I know that ye seek 
Jesus, which was crucified. 

6 He is not here; for he is risen, as he said. 
Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 

7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that 
he is risen from the dead ; and, behold, he goeth 
before you into Galilee ; there shall ye see him : 
lo, I have told you. 

8 And they departed quickly from the sep- 
ulchre with fear and great joy ; and did run to 
bring his disciples word. 

9 And as they went to tell his disciples, be- 
hold, Jesus met them, saying. All hail. And 
they came and held him by the feet, and wor- 
shipped him. 

10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid : 
go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, 
and there shall they see me. 



11 f Now when they were going, behold, 
some of the watch came into the city, and 
shewed unto the chief priests all the things that 
were done. 

12 And when they were assembled with the 
elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large 
money unto the soldiers, 

13 Saying, Say ye. His disciples came by 
night, and stole him awa}/ while we slept. 

14 And if this come to the governor's ears, 
we will persuade him, and secure you. 

15 So they took the money, and did as they 
were taught : and this saying is commonly re- 
ported among the Jews until this day. 

16 ^ Then the eleven disciples went away 
into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had 
appointed them. 

17 And when they saw him, they worshipped 
him: but some doubted. 

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, 
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven 
and in earth. 

19 ^ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : 

20 Teaching them to observe all things what- 
soever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the world. 
Amen. 



The vernal equinox brings round the joyful anniversary of our Lord's 
resurrection. Next to that of Christmas this festival is the most widely 
celebrated of the feasts of the Christian Church. " Christ has broken down 
the barriers of the grave. He has opened the kingdom of heaven, that the 
earth and the heavens may become thenceforth one in their life. The grave 
has no victory in its corruption. It bears us on to the perfect life, the life 
of those who have loved righteousness, the life of those who have cast off 
the garments of their own vanity and selfishness, and entered into the life of 
Him who is the Redeemer of the world. It is the new life, — the life of the 
fulfilment of the spirit ; it is the life of humanity. It fulfils the hope of 
man ; it is beyond all that was prefigured in the prophetic soul of the wide 
world." — ElisJia Miilford. 

" If one with Christ, how can it be that we shall not share His destiny, 
and go from world to world in His company? " — Theodore T. Munger. 

"As the dead body shall be raised up in life, so also the defeated .soul to 
victory, if only it has been fighting on the Master's side, has made no coy- 



EASTER. 



721 



enant with death, nor itself bowed its forehead for the seal. Blind from the 
prisoii-house, maimed from the battle, or mad from the tombs, their souls 
shall yet sit, astonished, at His feet who giveth peace." — John Ruskin. 

" There are empty chairs in the home ; and voices we have loved to hear 
are silent. We shall find them all in heaven. In the churchyard, ... do 
you think they sleep there ? No, no. The body to dust, the spirit to God 
who gave it. The home circles will be filled again. We shall meet our 
friends there." — G. H. Vibbei't. 

" Come, take that task of yours which you have been hesitating before, 
and shirking and walking around, and on this Easter Day lift it up and do 
it. . . . If the city of our heart is holy with the presence of a living Christ, 
then the dear dead will come to us, and we shall know that they are not 
dead but living, — and press on joyously toward our own redemption, not 
fearing even the grave, since by its side stands He whom we know and love, 
who has the keys of death and hell." — Phillips Brooks. 

Closet Promise. — Death is swallowed up in victory. — i Cor. xv. 54. 



I got me flowers to strew Thy way, 
I got me boughs off many a tree ; 

But Thou wast up by break of day, 

And broughl'st Thy sweets along with Thee. 

Can there be any day but this, 

Though many suns to shine endeavor? 

We count three hundred, but we miss; 
There is but one, and that one ever. 

— George Herbert. 

Better than carols for the babe new-born, 

The shining young men's speech, " He is not 

here ; " 
Why question where the feet lay, where the 

head ? 



Come forth ; bright o'er the world breaks Easter 

He is arisen, victor o'er grief and fear. 

— Edward Dowden, 

Sleep is a death ; Oh, make me try 
By sleeping what it is to die, 
And as gently lay my head 
On my grave as now my bed. 
Howe'er I rest, great God, let me 
Awake again at last wiih Thee ; 
And thus assured, behold I lie 
Securely, or to wake or die. 
— Sir Thomas 



THANKSGIVING 33AY. 

Psalm cxlvii. 



1 Praise ye the Lord : for it is good to sing 
praises unto our God ; for // is pleasant ; and 
praise is comely. 

2 The Lord doth build up Jerusalem : he 
galhereth together the outcasts of Israel. 

3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bind- 
eth up their wounds. 

4 He telleth the number of the stars ; he 
calleth them all by t/ieir names. 

5 Great is our Lord, and of great power : his 
understanding is infinite. 

6 The Lord lifteth up the meek : he casteth 
the wicked down to the ground 



7 Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving ; 
sing praise upon the harp unto our God : 

8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who 
prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass 
to grow upon the mountains. 

9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the 
young ravens which cry. 

10 He delighteth not in the strength of the 
horse : he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a 
man. 

1 1 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that 
fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. 



00, 



SPECIAL DAYS. 



1 2 Praise the LoRD, O Jerusalem ; praise tliy 
God, O Zion. 

13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy 
gates; he haili blessed thy children within 
thee. 

14 He maketh peace in thy borders, and fill- 
eth thee with the finest of the wheat. 

15 He sendeth forth his commandment te/>on 
earth : his word runneth very swiftly. 

16 He giveth snow like wool : he scattereth 
the hoar frost like ashes. 



17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who 
can stand before his cold ? 

18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth 
them : he causeth his wind to blow, and the 
waters How. 

19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his 
statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 

20 He hath not dealt so with any nation : 
and as for his judgments, they have not known 
them. Praise ye the Lord. 



" Good, grand, old-fashioned Thanksgiving Day has come. . . . Through 
the gates of this morning it came, carrying on one shoulder a sheaf of wheat, 
and on the other a shock of corn. Children, in holiday dress, hold up their 
hands to bless it, and old age goes out to bid it welcome, asking that it come 
in, and by the altars of God rest a while. Come in, oh day, fragrant with a 
thousand memories, and borne down under the weight of innumerable 
mercies, and tell to our thankful hearts how great is the goodness of God." — ■ 
T. Dewitt Talmage, D. D. 

It is well for us all to pause a little in the mad whirl of business or work 
or pleasure, and think of the blessings which have crowned the year, and 
lift up our hearts in special thanksgiving. 

"As flowers carry dewdrops, trembling on the edges of the petals, and 
ready to fall at the first waft of wind or brush of bird, so the heart should 
carry its beaded words of thanksgiving, and at the first breath of heavenly 
flavor, let down the shower perfumed with the heart's gratitude." — H. W. 
Bcecher. 

" Thankfulness or unthankfulness is largely a matter of eyes. Two men 
look at the same scene : one beholds the defects, the imperfections ; the 
other beholds the beauty, the brightness. If you cannot find things to be 
thankful for to-day, every day, the fault is in yourself, and you ought to 
pray for a new heart, a heart to see God's goodness and to praise Him. A 
happy heart transfigures all the world for us. It finds something to be 
thankful for in the barest circumstances, even in the night of sorrow. Let 
us train ourselves to see the beauty and the goodness in God's world, in our 
own lot, and then we shall stop grumbling, and all our experience shall start 
songs of praise in our heart." — y. R. Miller, D. D. 

" We should remember past mercies and blessings. If we do, our past 
will shine down upon us like a clear sky full of stars. Such remembering 
will keep the gratitude ever fresh in our hearts and the incense of praise 
ever burning on the altar. Such a house of memory becomes a refuge to 
which we inay flee in trouble. When sorrows gather thickly, when trials 
come, when the sun goes down and every .star is quenched and there seems 



THANKSGIVING DAY. 



723 



nothing left to our hearts in all the present, then the memory of a past full 
of goodness, a past in which God has never once failed us, becomes a holy 
refuge for our souls — a refuge gemmed and lighted by the lamps of other 
and brighter days." 

Closet Promise. — God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. — i 
Tim. vi. 17. 



' The morning hours are joyful- fair. 
With call of bird and scent of dew; 
And blent with shining gold and blue 

And glad the summer noontides are ; 

The slow sun lingeiing seeks the west. 
As loath to leave and grieve so soon 
The long and fragrant afternoon ; 

But still the evening is the best. 



' Day may be full as day may be, — 

Her hands all heaped with gifts, her eyes 
Alight with joyful prophecies ; 

But still we turn where wistfully 

The veiled evening, dimly fair, 

Stands in the shadow without speech. 
And holds her one gift out to each, — 

Her gift of rest, for all to share." 



CHRISTMAS 

Luke ii. 8-20. 



8 And there were in the same country shep- 
herds abiding in the field, keeping watch over 
their flock by night. 

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon 
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round 
about them, and they were sore afraid. 

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: 
for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
joy, which shall be to all people. 

1 1 For unto you is born this day in the city 
of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye 
shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 
lying in a manger. 

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a 
multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and 
saying, 

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, good will toward men. 

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were 



gone away from them into heaven, the shep- 
herds said one to another. Let us now go even 
unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is 
come to pass, which the Lord hath made kno\va 
to us. 

16 And they came with haste, and found 
Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a 
manger. 

17 And when they had seen it, they made 
known abroad the saying which was told them' 
concerning this child. 

18 And all they that heard it wondered at 
those things which were told them by the shep- 
herds. 

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pon- 
dered them in her heart. 

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying 
and praising God for all the things that they had 
heard and seen, as it was told unto them. 



" It is Christ's birthday. In among all our festivities should come sweet 
thoughts of the love of God. The gifts we may receive should make us 
think of the greatest gift of all, when God gave His Son. Let us all trj^ to 
make our Christmas very full of memories of Christ. Let the blessed love 
of Christ make a glad Christmas in our hearts, helping us to be like Christ 
Himself in love, unselfishness and forgiveness. What Christ is to us we 
ought, in our human measure, to be to others. Christmas means love. 
Christ came to our world to pour divine kindness on weary, needy, perish- 
ing human lives. The Christmas spirit in our hearts should send us out on 



724 



SPECIAL DAYS. 



the same errand. There is need everywhere for love's ministry. We 
should learn the true Christmas lesson of gentle, thoughtful kindness to all 
we meet in life's busy ways." — y. R. Miller, D. D. 

" There is more charity at this time than any other. The Master's words, 
' The poor ye have always with you,' wear at this time a deep significance. 
For at least one night in each year over all Christendom there is brother- 
hood. And good men, sitting amongst their families, or by a solitary fire, 
when they remember the light that shone on the Bethlehem plains eighteen 
hundred years ago . . . and the song, ' Peace on earth and good-will toward 
men,' which for the first time hallowed the midnight air — pray for that 
strain's fulfilment, that battle and strife may vex the nations no more, that 
not only on Christmas eve, but the whole year round, men shall be brethren, 
owning one Father in heaven." — Alexander Smith. 

" Shine forth, O Lord, as when on Thy nativity Thine angels visited the 
shepherds. Let Thy glory blossom forth as bloom and foliage on the trees. 
Change with Thy mighty power this visible world into that diviner world 
which as yet we see not. Destroy what we see, that it may pass and be 
transformed into what we believe." — Cardinal Newman. 

" Christ is not the monopoly of any nation, or creed. All literature, all 
science, all philosophy, every doctrine that is true, every form of righteous- 
ness, every virtue that belongs to the Son, is the true subjective Christ 
whom all ages glorify. Scattered in all schools of philosophy and in all 
religious sects, scattered in all men and women of the east and the west, are 
multitudinous Christ-principles and fragments of Christ-life, one vast and 
identical Sonship diversely manifested." — Keslmb Chiinder Sen. 

Closet Promise. — Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given : and 
the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called 
Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The 
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall 
be no end. — Isa. ix. 6, 7. 



O Wonderful ! round whose birth-hour 
Prophetic Song, miraculous power, 
Cluster and hum, like star and flower 
The secret of the years is read, 
The enigma of the quick and dead. 
By the Child-voice interpreted. 

— IV. Alexander. 

'■ When Christmas comes, we hear again the 
word 



Our Lord spake, listening back to His own 
birth, 
And forward until now, as if He heard 

His advent hymned by all the years of earth : 
' Except as little children ye become, 
Ye cannot in God's kingdom be at home.' 
When Christmas comes, set in the midst is He, 
The Eternal Child, to show men they must be 
As children still, would they His kingdom see." 



SPECIAL DAYS. 725 

SPECIAL CHILDREN'S CORNER FOR CHRISTMAS WEEK. 

Breakfast Motto.— What shall I render unto the Lord for all His bene- 
fits toward me ? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of 
the Lord. — Psa. cxvi. 12, 13. 

Weekly Proverb. — Great beauty, great strength, and great riches are 
really and truly of no great use : a right heart exceeds all. — Poor Richard. 

-DKlWi BIBLE READING.— CHRISTMAS WEEK. 

Sunday. — Christ's Birth Prophesied. — Isa. vii. 10-16; Isa. ix. 6, 7. 

Mo7iday. — His Birthplace Foretold. — Micah v. 1-15. 

Tuesday. — The Annunciation. — Luke i. 26-38. 

Wednesday. — The Birth of Jesus. — Luke ii. 1-20. 

Thursday. — His Presentation in the Temple. — Luke ii. 25-38. 

Friday. — The Visit of the Wise Men. — Matt. ii. 1-12. 

Saturday. — The Flight into Egypt. — Matt. ii. 13-23. 



A CHRISTMAS CAROL. 



A star was seen ! 

A song was heard ! 
The angels gleam ! 
The shepherds feared ! 
While heavenly music sweet and rare 
Thrilled all the pulsing, trembling air ! 

" Fear not," they sing, 

" Glad tidings now 
Behold we bring 
Of greatest joy." 
And then they sang that sweet refrain 
Of " Peace on earth, good-will to men.' 

And now they say : 

" For unto you 
Is bom this day 

A Saviour, who 



Is Christ the Lord," of virgin maid, 
And now in lonely manger laid ! 

The shepherds heard 

The story told ! 
Their hearts were stirred ; 
They left the fold. 
And straightway went to see the sight 
That thrilled the angels with delight. 

And as they go 

The angel choir 
Brake forth in song 
That filled the air. 
And vibrates yet, in praise to Him 
Who gave us Christ, the new-born King! 
— John G. Robinson. 



He called His name Jesus. — Matt. i. 25. 

This is Christmas week. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to 
one and all my Httle readers ! Of all birthdays the birthday of Jesus is the 
best. Why? Why is it that Christmas is such a joyous season? Not 
because the branch of holly trembles in the huge plum pudding, and the 
mince pies make their daily appearance on the dinner-table, around which 
are gathered the father, the mother, and all the merry group of children ; 
not because the rooms are decked with evergreens, and red' berries mingle 
with ivy leaves in the old churches ; but because on Christmas morning 
.^niiling faces and glad voices ring with one accord that Christ was born in 



72G CHILDREN'S CORNER FOR CHRISTMAS. 

Bethlehem. Yes, this is indeed a blessed day — the anniversary of a birth- 
day that all Christians love to celebrate. I hope you all love this dear 
Saviour. Dear children, work for Jesus. You are little and weak, but you 
can do something for Him. On the cars one day a young man gave a little 
girl, but four or five years old, a small card on which were the words, 
" Stand up for Jesus." The lively little miss went around to the passengers, 
reading it to each of them, and saying in her childlike way, " Stand up for 
Jesus ; won't you stand up for Jesus ? " Then she went to her mother, and 
said, " Mamma, I want you to lift me on to the seat ; I want to stand up for 
Jesus ! " The mother burst into tears, and soon after became a Christian. 
Dear children, my parting words are, " Stand up for Jesus ! " 



THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS. 

There is a Reaper, whose name is Death, 

And, with his sickle keen, 
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath. 

And the flowers that grow between. 

" Shall I have naught that is fair? " saith he ; 

"Have naught but the bearded grain? 
Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, 

I will give them all back again." 

He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, 

He kiss'd their drooping leaves ; 
It was for the Lord of Paradise 

He bound them in his sheaves. 

" My Lord has need of these flowerets gay," 

The Reaper said, and smiled ; 
" Dear tokens of the earth are they, 

Where he once was a child. 

" They shall all bloom in fields of light, 

Transplanted by my care. 
And saints, upon their garments white, 

These sacred blossoms wear." 

And the mother gave, in tears and pain. 

The flowers she most did love ; 
She knew she .should find them all again 

In the fields of light above. 

Oh, not in cruelty, not in wrath, 

The Reaper came that day ; 
'Twas an angel visited the green earth, 

And took the flowers away. — H. IV. Longfellow. 




THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS. 

727 



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